Stoke Newington 23rd - 25th November 2018
This was a return trip to Stoke Newington, having played in the lovely Old Church there two and a half years ago. A huge thank you to Karen for organising not only the two concerts and fabulous accommodation for us all with her many friends, but also for providing such a wonderfully enthusiastic and supportive audience for us at the concerts!
It was a shame that Gill wasn’t able to be with us this time but she was mentioned in dispatches and her spirit was definitely with us!
We had a very intensive, but productive rehearsal session on the Saturday, followed by a delicious meal in the local pub before the concert. The Old Church provided some challenges! It took a little time to get the lighting sorted so that we could see our music and Liz was rather hidden under the pulpit, but the layout worked well for us and we could all hear each other. The only downside was that it was very cold! But the warmth of the audience’s reaction more than made up for that and again we had really good positive and enthusiastic feedback from everyone there.
Sunday was a slightly more relaxed day – a number of us went for a lovely – and much appreciated - walk in the local park after a very leisurely breakfast. Then we were back in the church before lunch, setting up again and going through a few of the pieces that needed a bit more attention. A quick lunch before the concert and then we did it all again - an even better performance than the one the night before we thought, and there was a sense of great elation.
Several people had trains to catch so packing up was chaotic and rapid and there was hardly time to say goodbye, but everyone felt that it had been a really great weekend and that we had performed really well. A special thankyou is due to Jane, who had been suffering with a cold and not feeling at all well over the weekend. She gave her all in the concerts and conducted us magnificently and is hopefully now enjoying a much needed rest.
Our next weekend will be a rehearsal weekend in Nottingham and we have been promised new repertoire, so there is much excitement in the camp!
