A Summer Romance
It was clear as soon as percussion soloist Sebastian Guard began setting up his wonderful array of instruments on Saturday afternoon that this was going to be a fantastic concert. Any doubts about this vanished completely as soon as the first glittering flourish from piano virtuoso David Owen Norris filled the air.
The promise of percussion
Come the evening we watched, rainbow-clad, as people continued to stream in and pack the auditorium (despite the England match having just gone to extra time). Our own Andy Lumsden stepped onto the podium wearing a fiercely joyful and exuberant shade of red and our hearts lifted a little as we rose to sing.
Our rainbow choir, waiting to perform
And so to the performances themselves. We were blown away, along with the audience, by David’s solo pieces, as he effortlessly drew strings of musical pearls from the college Steinway. We the Wayns sang beautifully- there is just no denying it- under Andy’s meticulous yet lighthearted direction, our singing gloriously bejewelled by Sebastian’s percussion and gorgeously enhanced with the fresh, young voices of our soloists James Wells and Jemima Price.
Applause and more applause!
Afterwards audience members spoke of nothing but enjoyment, amazement and even “goosebumps”, and the celebrations of a concert well done and well-enjoyed continued into the twilight over sparkling drinks in the Warden’s Garden.
We all know that this has not been a perfectly normal term, and it would have been all too easy for this to have tinted the timbre of our last concert of the year. Instead, in a testament to Andy’s highly skilful direction (with our deep gratitude too to George Castle and Andy Hayman) we have ended the year with a concert bursting with colour, joy and of course romance. Charming, entrancing and bright; it was definitely not just any night.
May we all enjoy a summer filled with just as much sunshine and happiness, and maybe even a little romance.
Celebratory post-concert drinks
The idea behind our Wayns Augmented blog is to help keep us connected as a choir, to share our knowledge and experiences and to boost our musical camaraderie! If you have an idea for a future blogpost then please don’t hesitate to contact Sarah Jones or Jacki Donnellan (A1)