July 13, 2017

Home, sweet home

I'm writing this from the comfort of my living room. My wife is busy on the sewing machine and after a lovely dinner together life feels like it has semblance of balance to it. This after we've just performed in one of my favourite countries: France. It was a lovely way to finish our concert season (still got the Summer School to look forward to next week) with shows in Tournon sur Rhône and Arcachon. Singing in France in summertime brings back so many memories of coming off stage dripping from the heat – usually excessively bright lights in addition to the outside/inside temperatures – which is heightened when away from the coastal areas. Wednesday was brutal and Thursday was a little kinder but still, I think I may need to pay a visit to the dry cleaners!For the keen Bruerton Kitchen story followers amongst you, there's been a sudden development: it's time to decide on blinds. My goodness, if I thought choosing tiles was going to be exhilarating, I have surpassed all excitement this evening looking at blind websites. The question on everyone's lips is surely whether to go for Persian or slat, Venetian, Vertical, Roman, Shoji or 'Other'? Holy moly, we have some decision to make. I'm confident we can have this wrapped up by next week so do tune in to find out what we end up with (I can tell that you're barely able to contain your excitement).Next week is the culmination of a LOT of hard work by both our amazing team at Music Productions – Claire, Meg and Louisa – and all the participants from around the world who've been preparing the music earnestly. There's a real buzz about this one because it's the third instalment at Royal Holloway, University of London and this year we have a very special opportunity to perform the service of Evensong at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, under the direction of Christopher Robinson. He's one of the most celebrated choral conductors in England and I can't wait to learn from him on Tuesday and Wednesday – will be nice to swap roles and be a student!Hope this finds you well, wherever you are.See you next week!