Wayns Augmented 2025 Easter blog
A Victoriously Successful Verdi!
We have already dispersed for the Easter break, but we have surely done so with the strains of a victoriously successful Verdi still ringing in our ears and thundering in our souls. What an awesome experience it was- to sing and hear our choir enriched by the voices of our friends in the BSC, and to see and hear the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra bring Verdi’s music to life before our very eyes and ears.
And what a joy to hear our amazing soloists, the final dimension missing from all our already enthralling rehearsal performances. Those in the audience spoke not just of their soaring voices but of the drama and storytelling that they brought to their performances.
The cathedral was positively brimming- crammed, even- with people keen to hear Verdi’s Requiem performed within the Cathedral walls. At one point it looked as if the concert could not begin on time as the queue to enter the cathedral stretched right back through the Cathedral green towards The Square!
Photo credit: Kate Baker
And one cannot reflect on such a magnificent evening without mentioning Andy, who conducted us all with seemingly effortless mastery. Through our preparation as well as our performance he has been our trustworthy navigator through Verdi’s realms of fear, wrath, pleading, and praise, leading and directing us to sing at our best and to perform at our highest level. (Our grateful thanks as always too to George and Andy H!)
There could be said to be something a little incongruous about performing a piece about death and the final days in this the season of awakening and new life. And yet our performance of this Requiem Mass was so life-affirming and so rejuvenating, full of such riotous colour and soul-stirring sound, that it could more convincingly be said that there is no better time to perform the Verdi Requiem than in the glorious spring!
Photo credit: Kate Baker
Sheila Redstone’s Grande Finale
Our performance of the Verdi was the final concert for our long-time member and former choir secretary, S2 Sheila Redtstone, who is “retiring” from the Waynflete Singers after more than 30 years. Sheila described the concert as a “super swansong!”
We asked Sheila if before she went she could tell us about some of her favourite memories from her time in the Wayns and whether as a seasoned choral veteran she has any parting advice for us all! You can read our lovely interview with Sheila in the following blog.
Fiona Smith- the namer of “The Waynflete Singers”
Sitting in the pews and watching our afternoon rehearsal of the Verdi was Fiona Smith. As someone whose connections to the Winchester music and choral scene are both deep and numerous, Fiona had many links to both the performance and the performers at hand that afternoon. These links included the fact that when our bass soloist Ashley Riches was a scholar at Winchester College, Fiona’s husband Julian Smith was Ashley’s singing teacher for four years, with another link being that she has known one Andrew Lumsden since he was a boy at Winchester College- so prodigiously talented that while still a pupil, he was appointed Assistant Organist for the Chapel Choir, of which Julian Smith was the Choirmaster.
Perhaps her strongest link with us a choir, though, is that it is her we have her to thank for the very name of our choir, “The Waynflete Singers.”
Fiona has been kind enough to tell us all about this and about her memories of the choir, its conductors and its development into the choir that we are today. You can read this absolute gem of an interview in the following blog - a real Easter treat for us all!
Fiona at our afternoon rehearsal with bass soloist Ashley Riches and our own Andy Lumsden
Happy Easter!
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!