A fine four days in Belgium... before the deluge at home...
de kam, Wezembeek-Oppem
de Maere in Tielt-Winge
cc palethe, Overpelt
de Markten, Brussels
Gigs one and three were opening nights of the theatres' new seasons.
Gigs two and three were 'Best of British' & we were joined by the wonderful, Chris Hatt...
Wonderful places, and as ever in Belgium, excellent cuisine on most occasions, friendliness & happy audiences. The Brussels gig turned into a dance after we had performed (no-one was silly enough to ask us!)
Back at the end of the week in Hellevoetsluis in Holland on Friday for an a cappella concert & Belgium once more (Bruges) on Sunday afternoon for another Best of British...
Monday, 24 September 2012
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
You'll Never Walk Alone
A great dinner with the Medical Defence Union to celebrate the end of Dr Chris Evans' tenure as Chairman, at the Royal College of Physicians, Regents Park.
As this Royal College was started in 1518 (in London, nationwide in 1523) under Henry VIII, we began by singing the great King's Pastime with Good Company ... the audience were in fine mood, and loved it all; but as Chris Evans is a proud Liverpudlian, Yesterday & You'll Never Walk Alone were especially well received.
Such a delight to be home before 11 two gigs in a row...
Belgium awaits...
As this Royal College was started in 1518 (in London, nationwide in 1523) under Henry VIII, we began by singing the great King's Pastime with Good Company ... the audience were in fine mood, and loved it all; but as Chris Evans is a proud Liverpudlian, Yesterday & You'll Never Walk Alone were especially well received.
Such a delight to be home before 11 two gigs in a row...
Belgium awaits...
Sunday, 16 September 2012
We can call him Al
A quite terrific evening in central London - Skinners' Hall, Cannon Street - celebrating three anniversaries in the same family... all ending in zero; founding counter-tenor of The Kings' Singers, Al Hume is 70, his car (a beautiful Lagonda sitting outside in the lane) is 80, and his wife Diane, (I shall graciously say) is much younger!
Lots of excellent jokes along the lines of... how lovely to be celebrating the birthdays of the beautiful Diane, the old banger.... and the car outside! (tee hee)... (Al did have the good grace to laugh).
Diane and Al's son, Alexander gave a fine speech belying his youth, introducing Dad, who was also hilarious!
Lots of other luminaries there, including organist/conductor Simon Preston & fellow ex-KS, Brian Kay, but more of that later...
A tough audience, it might seem, but all was sweetness and light... our set was delightfully received, once Richard had warmed them up by giving them an audition!
The highlight of the evening was indeed a counter-tenor extravaganza.... we started off the foundations for The Lion Sleeps Tonight... and then Richard pounced on all the counter-tenors (+1) in the audience; eventually we had David James (the man who first gave me singing lessons!), Michael Chance, Mark Deller, Richard Baker, Al Hume and also his wife up onstage to sing the tune to the song... and what a glorious noise it was... climaxing in a husband and wife duet of the last line.
Glorious.
Lovely evening , lovely setting...
Lots of excellent jokes along the lines of... how lovely to be celebrating the birthdays of the beautiful Diane, the old banger.... and the car outside! (tee hee)... (Al did have the good grace to laugh).
Diane and Al's son, Alexander gave a fine speech belying his youth, introducing Dad, who was also hilarious!
Lots of other luminaries there, including organist/conductor Simon Preston & fellow ex-KS, Brian Kay, but more of that later...
A tough audience, it might seem, but all was sweetness and light... our set was delightfully received, once Richard had warmed them up by giving them an audition!
The highlight of the evening was indeed a counter-tenor extravaganza.... we started off the foundations for The Lion Sleeps Tonight... and then Richard pounced on all the counter-tenors (+1) in the audience; eventually we had David James (the man who first gave me singing lessons!), Michael Chance, Mark Deller, Richard Baker, Al Hume and also his wife up onstage to sing the tune to the song... and what a glorious noise it was... climaxing in a husband and wife duet of the last line.
Glorious.
Lovely evening , lovely setting...
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