Saturday 15 December 23:14
Saturday morning, and I woke up in Berkshire. Emma and I drove back up to Bicester, meeting up with my parents for lunch, and â umm â not much else before I had to get changed and leave for the afternoon rehearsal. The rehearsal went well, and a little after 5 oâclock I nipped out and up the road to meet Emma and my parents at The Fishes for a bit of a meal before the concert. It transpires that I really shouldnât leave Emma alone with my parents because of the stories that they have been telling each other about me, and âgangingâ on me. I want them all to get on, but honestly thereâs getting on, and thereâs getting on a little too much… *grins*
The concert itself was good. My first Christmas concert in the seven years that Iâve been with the band, the entire flute section tied tinsel round our instruments for added shininess and we had a mixture of words and music to start off Christmas: Leroy Andersonâs Christmas Festival and Sleigh Ride and a fiendishly difficult but effective arrangement of The Nutcracker for Christmas cheer; a sprinkling of the fiendishly difficult and actually not all that interesting arrangement of John Williamsâ music for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for that Christmas Day afternoon; and a nice serving of carols (the audience will stand and sing.
All too soon it was over; Mum and Dad headed back to the New Forest and Emma and I headed home…
