Off We Go

First day back to teaching tomorrow, and then the term fully begins on monday. My talented young lady who travels from Oxfordshire for lessons every month or so is here and will have a satisfying grilling tomorrow and saturday.

She is sparky and bright and a fine young singer, who has, like all of those who want to sing for a career, got to take her time and let nature take it's course in the development of her vocal apparatus. I think she fully realises this, and maybe now can settle to a couple of years calm, when her considerable talent can mature like a fine wine, and thence be ready to face the enslaught of Conservetoire.

This term, like all my Easter terms, will be interrupted by the constant visits to the deep South for adjudicating engagements. I do not quite understand how February and March became the pick of the musical year for competitive festivals, but I would guess about 50% of them fall in the five weeks between the last week of february and the last week of March. So we adjudicators are worked to death this term, and then visit a few others outwith the frenzy that is this term.

In essence, the consequence is that my Paradise pupils will receive 7 or 8 lessons this term, out of a possible 10. Thus, as you can imagine, I rarely use this term to enter any of them for exams ! There is that E word I promised NOT to use for at least 6 months !

So in the next 3 or 4 months I shall be in :- Hampshire, East Sussex, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, North Yorkshire with a little County Durham thrown in for good measure ! I shall, in addition to all those competitive festivals be 'nunning' in West Sussex and Cumbria - you can see that my milage will be heavy, but one has to earn one's living !

Actually, the travelling to so many diverse places keeps me alive and young, (if anyone laughs they will be 'forrit' as we say in Yorkshire!). That is because , although onerous, this travel is on my terms, and I can accept or reject engagements according to my needs and wants. Therefore it is rather less stressful than the commuting (appropros my last post!) I used to do, and each traverse is different, a new place, a beautiful city, or a peaceful retreat.

Sometimes, at this time of the year I feel like a character in that long ago comedy film, 'If it's Tuesday it must be Belgium' !

Tally Ho !