Last weekend was unusual. My gig was with Market Rasen Choral Society, over in Lincolnshire. I had practised the music and was really comfortable with it, I knew parking would be no issue, I was staying overnight with a member of the choir who has a B&B and had already invited me out for an indian meal after the concert. So there was really nothing to worry about.
This of course made me worry that something truly dreadful would happen.
But no, smooth sailing all the way, there wasn’t so much as a single step to move the harp up or down – perfect! I also got paid on the night, hurray!!
The repertoire was Delius’ Brigg Fair (I actually drove through the village of Brigg to get to Market Rasen, such a beautiful part of the country) and Rowland Lee’s Requiem. Rowland was present at the rehearsal and the concert, it’s always a bit nerve-racking when the composer is actually sitting there, score in hand, ready to point out what he’d like doing differently. But actually, he was lovely and received a well-deserved standing ovation at the end of what turned out to be an unusually long concert.
But it was ok, there was curry to look forward to. I sat opposite a very interesting man and we spent the evening chatting about where we went to school and things like that. I didn’t realise it was Ian Hogg – a quick glance at his IMDb page shows that he has been in lots of TV and Shakespeare plays http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0389707/
After dinner it was time to go back to the B&B, which was about seven miles away. It’s in the middle of the countryside and when you breathe in you can just tell immediately that you’re not in a big city any more. And you can see the stars! What a treat. It was midnight when we got back and, as I was leaving first thing in the morning I decided my harp could sleep in the car. Midge very kindly provided a nice thick duvet to tuck it in. I found out later that Midge (Thomas) is a published author. She wrote a recipe book of jams and preserves for the WI that has sold over 100,000 copies!
So that was that, lovely trip, lovely part of the country that I hadn’t been to before, met some great people, and got paid to do it! Brilliant.
May is literally jam-packed with gigs (excuse the pun) so lots and lots of posts to come I’m sure! Watch this space.
3 Comments
Great post as always! Hope the harp slept well in the car! Can’t wait to see how the romantic subplot with the film star from the curry pans out! Glad to hear parking wasn’t an issue this time also!
Sounds like a lovely gig and weekend. Isn’t it wonderful that sometimes it doesn’t have to be so blooming difficult?!?
Yes indeed, this was a good one!