Nottingham 3-5th February 2017
Just back from our first meeting of 2017 which was held in Nottingham, courtesy of Frances, who excelled in her organisational skills and the entire weekend ran like clockwork.
One of the best parts was being able to welcome Jane back into our midst after a long absence. And it also meant that Hannah was back playing with the thirds which was wonderful. She had stepped into the leader’s role so competently to tide us through Jane’s absence, but she had been sorely missed as a player in the orchestra.
The weekend was purely for rehearsal and we now have lots of new repertoire to work on. We met in Frances’ lovely home and after the usual sharing of wonderful food and wine we broke into sections for the first practice of the weekend. By the end of Sunday our brains were beginning to shrivel under the strain. Gill has also been introduced into the world of LAO Basso playing and she and Jacky are now going to share the burden – Oops! – pleasure.
It was good to be back together again and Saturday night was spent with various members trying their skills at picking up matchboxes in their teeth, stepping through the broom (or rather the mop in our case), spinning round the mop and other such innocent pastimes – much to the hilarity of those of us who did not participate! It is admitted that alcohol had been consumed! And tunes were also played of course.
We are looking forward to a full year again – we already have concerts arranged in Suffolk in March, North Wales in May, Liverpool in October and Portsmouth in November so we hope to see some of you during the year.