Mayhem and madness - Britten has changed our lives in Paradise !

Well my week finished with an exhausting but exciting bang ! Myself and the group of ladies had a super chat with drinks and homemade gingercake during the afternoon, a couple of hours before I began my long Sweep session ! The individual lessons of the young people merged and slid into each other's lessons  and from L onwards we had rehearsals and coaching on almost every one of the tricky sections and ensembles - it was a triumph, they sang their hearts out ! L is playing Hughie, a boy role and after her came M, who is playing Rowan the nursery maid and she sang some of her sections with L putting in the children lines, then N arrived, who for the first time in her singing life is taking the role of a horrid male chimney sweep called Black Bob, and she and M battled it out in the the first quartet, only to be joined by L once again, adding to the vocal mayhem ! 

After M's official time had ended, S who is playing the oldest boy arrived a bit early and joined the growing party in the music room adding Jonny's lines in with so much in the way of decibels I thought the windows would shatter.........she had her own lesson time, only to be followed by S, who is playing Juliet the eldest girl, and she added yet another line to the ensemble, and by this time, a patient and quite tired M came back into the room and sang yet more of her ensemble music with S ! It was like an enormous 'rolling rehearsal'........

It is almost too complex to describe but if you can imagine a long lesson of around 3 hours, with bouncing and chirpy teenagers slipping in and out of the room according to the music which was happening ! Mums were patient and kind, and collected when we had finished - not necessarily at the correct timings ! Thank you parents !

What a totally joyful way to finish my teaching week - bright, happy and super talented youngsters, all running in and out like mad puppies in a West End farce, at the same time as singing the most challenging and tricky music as if it were 'Skip to ma Lou' ! 

Who says 'opera' is boring and stuffy ?! 

Not my lot !