Early risers may have caught Your Loyal Correspondent live on air this morning, talking on Heart Kent Radio about the Anthem for Kent which presenters James and Becky have put together.
This stirring, majestic eulogy to the glories of the county – think Elgar and Walton – celebrates its Roman roads, its White Cliffs, as a ‘Garden of England green,’ and I rashly suggested that what better than a choral arrangement of the piece sung by the University Cecilian Choir ? A piece about the county sung by the county’s University seemed a great idea whilst listening to it in my car in the white-heat of the school run a couple of weeks ago, a thought I carelessly voiced out loud and to which my children immediately yelled ‘WE DARE YOU!’
So, here we are; I’ve now made a start on converting the piece to a full arrangement for mixed choir, which the Cecilian Choir will then need to learn. We’ll keep you posted as to how it’s progressing. It’s my children’s fault…
Who knows, maybe a performance in the Royal Albert Hall, anyone ?!
Conducted by Dan Harding, costumed performers patrolled the foyer before being summoned into the re-imagined concert-hall by a side-drum, heralding the start of a selection of sacred and secular works which revisited the lavish entertainments of the court of the Sun King.
The same forces combine on Thursday 31 March at St Peter’s Methodist Church, in Canterbury, when they will unleash the high drama of two of Vivaldi’s choral works, the Credo and Magnificat, alongside a trio sonata and Mozart’s Ave Verum; more details 
I later moved to Hurstpierpoint College where I had the opportunity to join a whole host of new ensembles. This included choirs as I had now started singing, however the Jazz band was my new favourite because I had started working on some jazz repertoire with my new teacher. Improvisation was especially enjoyable for me – In my lessons I would try to get away with as much as he would resist before he would give in to join me in a jam session until the lesson was up! I also gained a keen interest in chamber music on the singing side and would later get to sing with the choir in residence at the national pilgrimage in Walsingham. Other personal highlights include performing Vivaldi’s La Tempesta Di Mare Concerto accompanied by a full orchestra – a memorable experience! During my A-levels at Hurst I took Music Technology which allowed me to dabble in writing and recording my own music. The technological aspect of this was particularly interesting to me as a computer scientist and is an industry I still follow closely.
