Synergy represented by:

Amy Haworth, Micaela Haslam, Amanda Morrison, Rachel Weston, Alastair Putt, Phillip Conway-Brown

“We were delighted to have another project with Clark Rundell, and we hadn’t worked with Britten Sinfonia for some time, so all good so far!  Steve Reich mentioned to me some weeks ago that he was delighted we were doing You Are (Variations) in London.  We agree that it’s a piece that isn’t aired enough.  The Desert Music is another one.  I still don’t understand why we haven’t performed it at the Proms in recent years, but I digress.  This concert was to be part of a big Reich-fest, featuring not only works by Steve Reich (and indeed Steve Reich himself) but also some of his contemporaries, and more recent works by younger composers.  The Barbican had packed as many concerts as possible into a long weekend, so it was a complex project, but we didn’t realise quite how much we’d be up against it on the day.

Fortunately, we’d had a good rehearsal at BBC Maida Vale studios the previous day.  When it came to rehearsing at the Barbican, however, the band before us was running so far behind schedule that we barely even had time for a sound check.  The concert was due to start at 6pm, and we didn’t get onto the stage until about 5.30.  We had expected to rehearse at around 4.30.  That clearly wasn’t going to happen, so we twiddled our thumbs back-stage and wondered whether to dress for the concert.  Finally, we decided to get changed and made-up, then of course we were called onto the stage.  At this point, we had no microphones set up, no monitors and no music stands, so there was nothing much we could do except stand around and wait.

Our first tenor, Alastair Putt, was singing this piece with us for the first time and unfortunately hadn’t been well.  He really needed this time to check whether or not his voice would work, but in the end he just had to go for it in the concert.  We did a bit of surreptitious covering in the concert, as the tenor 1 part is relentlessly high, and I’m sure no-one even noticed.

Amazingly, the performance went really well, and the stress on stage wasn’t transferred to the audience, or indeed Steve Reich who was at the sound desk.  I thought we all did brilliantly in the circumstances.  Fortunately, I had the lovely Owen Gunnell playing marimba just in front of me – always a smile in a crisis.  During the applause, he turned to me and said “So, that was the rehearsal.  Shall we do the concert now?””

Micaela

Synergy represented by:

“Having spent the previous evening Photoshopping Alastair into our Three Tales publicity shots (see above), I headed off to Heathrow to meet him and Mandy.  We flew to Düsseldorf then took a train to Gelsenkirchen.  We couldn’t stay in Essen because there was no room at the proverbial inn.  Apparently, there was a big conference happening in Essen, so there weren’t enough hotel rooms for Ensemble Modern and us – or perhaps all these people had come into town to come to our concert.

Gerry and Andy were in Paris with the Monteverdi Choir and, for some weeks, had had a cunning plan to drive from Paris to Essen after their show on 15th, to arrive in the early hours of 16th April.  Our rehearsal was to be at 11am, so they should have been able to fit in a half-decent night’s sleep.  However, two days before this epic journey, I learned that Andy hadn’t brought his driving licence with him to Paris, so Gerry would have to do all the driving.  Added to that, Gerry had just spoken to someone in the know who told him that the journey by car would actually take about 3 hours longer than they had anticipated.  So, having put a deposit on a hire car in Paris, they had to book train tickets after all, at vastly inflated prices.  What a pair! – good job we love them.

Our hotel in Gelsenkirchen appeared to be in a 70’s time-warp, but fortunately the rooms were very comfortable, and there was a delightful park onto which our breakfast salon looked out.

It was great to be singing Three Tales again.  We hadn’t done the piece in quite a while.  It’s rather expensive to put on, because there is lot of technical wizardry involved – projection, sound track, click tracks, lighting and of course amplification – but I think it’s worth it.  For me, the third section Dolly is a bit too long, but there is some wonderful music in the piece and I love the Gauguinesque images in the 2nd movement, Bikini.  The vibraphone parts in Dolly are truly virtuoso, and it’s a (loud!) thrill to hear them at such close range played by David Haller and Boris Müller.

As you can see, Andy and Gerry made it to Essen just in time for the sound check and rehearsal.  The sound check took quite a long time as there were some technical issues to fix.  It’s rather ironic that the first words sung in Three Tales are “It could not have been a technical matter”.  I think those words have jinxed the piece.  The first time we performed it at the Barbican, we had to restart when the click-track cut out.  Anyway, I took the opportunity here to take an arty shot of Herman, hidden away at the back of the stage behind his piano.

The Philharmonie is a huge hall.  It wasn’t full by any means, but I was reassured to learn that ours was as big an audience as they ever got for a classical concert.  So Three Tales is back up and running, and I’m pleased to say that it gets another outing later in the year.  See you in Krakow.”

Micaela

Synergy represented by:

“It was wonderful to have the chance to revisit De Staat by Louis Andriessen.  It’s a piece that I enjoy more each time I hear or sing it.  There is a fair bit of preparation in involved for the singers as the text is in ancient Greek – not a language many of us can say we’re familiar with.  Fortunately, my job-share partner at the BBC Singers (Alison Smart) studied classics at Oxford, and she very kindly made a recording of the text for us.  We would have been lost without her.

As usual, we got together before the tutti ensemble rehearsals.  The four female voice parts in De Staat work in pairs for much of the piece which includes a rather tricky and lengthy canon.  It’s easy to slip off the proverbial rails about three quarters of the way through, when your eyes and brain are beginning to tire, so it’s important to sing it all the way through when practising.  Towards the end of the piece, there is a fabulously dissonant chordal section where it must sound as though we’re just singing any old notes – but, honestly, we’re not!  Those clusters take some rehearsing, because there’s very little to latch on to tonally-speaking.  You just have to know where you’re starting, then hang on to your own line for grim death!!

Our first rehearsal with London Sinfonietta and David Atherton was a little strange in that, for the first half of the rehearsal, David didn’t have any foldback, which meant that he couldn’t hear a thing we were singing.  Not a great start – it didn’t exactly make us feel part of the team.  When he did finally get to hear us he was very kind about our efforts, but sadly we were left with the feeling that his attentions were elsewhere – largely with the brass and wind.

Still, Louis dropped by to say hello, which was nice.  As usual, his only instructions in respect of the vocals were, “Sing long quavers.  Apart from that, just shout!”.  Somehow, when we first sang De Staat with Sinfonietta some years ago, we had made the decision to do just that.  We’d never met Louis, but he heard our recording and, during the Radio 3 broadcast intermission, said that this was the first time he’d heard the vocals exactly the way he intended.  What a stroke of luck!  Basically, he likes the four women to sound like a bunch of fish-wives in an Athenian market during the time of Plato.  I’m not entirely sure whether we should be flattered by being “the best he’s ever heard…”!

The concert day involved a lot of playing for the ensemble, as Sound Intermedia were recording both rehearsal and concert for an upcoming CD.  De Staat is fiendish for the players – loud, incessant, repetitive patterns that must be lip-wrecking for the wind and brass, not to mention the piano (and harp!) parts that fly by at a rate of knots.  The players did brilliantly, having to perform the whole piece at least twice during the rehearsal.  Somehow they still had something in reserve for the concert which went really well.  Once again, Clark Rundell came along for the gig, which was sweet of him.  Maybe we’ll get to do De Staat together some time – I hope so.

We were looking forward to hooking up with our friends from Amsterdam after the concert but, unfortunately, the QEH bar closed about fifteen minutes after the end of the concert.  It was somewhat embarrassing to see the expressions of disbelief on their faces.  Back in March, we’d all had such a lovely time in the Muziekgebouw foyer after our Steve Reich concert with Asko|Schönberg.  Here we were in one of the premier music venues in our capital city – and the bar was shut by 10pm!  I reckon the Muziekgebouw management could teach the South Bank a thing or two…”

Micaela

Synergy represented by:

“Just over a week after our triumph in Amsterdam, it was nice to have a bit of personnel continuity for these two concerts.  Caroline and I met again – this time for her whistling debut!  Is there no end to this girl’s talents?

Drumming is impossible to rehearse alone.  It only starts to make sense when you hear all the mallet instruments live, throwing up the various combinations of notes that translate into our vocal patterns.  The other thing that comes to light only in situ is the level of foldback required.  It has to be pretty high otherwise we wouldn’t hear ourselves over the (up to) 9 people playing 3 marimbas at any one time, not to mention the final section when everyone is playing every instrument on stage!  As I know the piece very well, and Roland (the piccolo player) knows Section 3 – glockenspiels, piccolo & whistling – so well, I thought it would be easy for Caroline to slot into the proceedings.  What we hadn’t realised was that Roland was NA for these gigs, and his stand-in (Sandi Skipper) was also new to the piece.  Fortunately, Colin had allowed plenty of time at the soundcheck so everyone had time to make sure they knew what they were doing – more or less!

It’s always a thrill to hear the drummers rehearsing.  Colin, Sam, Joby and Richard have played the piece together a few times now, so they know it well.  It’s wonderful to see (and hear) the individual personalities coming to the fore as their confidence increases each time they play Part 1 in concert.  Quite honestly, I can’t imagine a better version of this piece now.  The Colin Currie Group plays with a wonderful vitality, which is still completely grounded and not flashy.  I hate watching performances of Drumming when you feel as though the players are just showing off.  Actually, I dislike performances of most things when that’s the case!

It was great to have Clark Rundell in the audience.  He was in town to conduct the premiere of James MacMillan’s new opera, so came along to support us, which was lovely.  He’s an old friend now, after our Asko collaboration last month.  Caroline and I thoroughly enjoyed a beer or two with him after the first show.  We even managed to sit outside, as it was so warm.  During the day, we’d had a coffee/chocolate/cake fair outside the artists’ entrance where I’d enjoyed “the best cappuccino in the world”.  Perfect day really!

As Synergy Vocals had done in Amsterdam, Colin’s agents took this opportunity to take some group shots for future publicity.  It’s a nightmare taking photos of this many people all together.  There’s always someone with their eyes shut, or pulling a daft face.  Can’t wait to see the pictures.  I think I know who the culprits might be…

Both shows were delightfully well-attended and mostly well-reviewed.  I took issue with one reviewer who said that the singers were a bit timid.  I don’t mind getting duff reviews if we’ve done a duff show (well actually I would mind, because I’d be gutted if we ever did a duff show!), but I wasn’t prepared to take the flack because we couldn’t be heard.  The sound in the front-of-house speakers (what the audience hears) is entirely down to the sound engineer.  We can’t begin to compete acoustically with the amount of noise on stage, so the volume out front is out of our hands.  I think our engineer had gone for the subtle approach, which is one way of doing of it.  I’m happy to report that, after an exchange of emails, the online reviewer revised his copy, which was good of him.  Next time, let’s jack it up – we’ll show ‘em!”

Micaela

Synergy represented by:

“This was to be Caroline Jaya-Ratnam’s first project with Synergy Vocals – as a singer, that is. Caroline was recommended to me as being a very brilliant pianist (which she is) who would be able to sight-read just about anything in auditions (which she could). What none of us realised was that she also has a lovely singing voice, perfect pitch and high notes that only dogs can hear! This was discovered by accident during recent Synergy auditions when Caroline was accompanying. She was given a piece to play which had an obbligato flute part. It wasn’t physically possible to play both accompaniment and flute part, so she sang the flute part quietly – in a lovely straight, easy tone – just what I was looking for. We ended that day with a singing audition for Caroline and she got the job!

The only thing that we (Caroline included) couldn’t be sure of was her vocal stamina, as she hadn’t really sung in public since her university days. Tehillim is quite a relentless sing and, for these two concerts, we also had a new piece of transcribed Cameroon music – very high and very repetitive. It’s not just a question of doing the concerts, either. There were many hours of rehearsal involved for the whole ensemble, which meant that we had to sing the pieces through time and time again, over several days. Added to all that, about a week or so before we went to Amsterdam, we discovered that Steve Reich was going to be there. No pressure then! What can I say? Caroline did brilliantly. I don’t think she put a note wrong during the entire week, and she was a delight to have on tour.

This was also the first time we’d worked with Clark Rundell, who is just adorable. He couldn’t have been more charming and thoughtful. Added to this, he was totally prepared, delightfully accurate, clear, consistent, and enthusiastic. Tehillim is a notoriously terrifying piece to conduct, but Clark’s performances exuded enjoyment and energy. We’re already looking forward to singing You Are (Variations) with him (and Britten Sinfonia) at the Barbican in May.

Coincidentally, Julia Wolfe was also in town for her new piece Combat de Boxe – music to a silent film by Charles Dekeukeleire about a boxing match. For years, I’ve felt as though I’ve known Julia, through hearing Steve Reich talk about her (and her husband, Michael Gordon), and having sung Shelter – the piece she wrote with Michael and David Lang. She clearly felt the same way, and we really enjoyed catching up properly – a kindred spirit, I felt.

As usual, we were staying at the Mövenpick, next door to the Muziekgebouw. It’s a wonderful hotel (best breakfast in town!) with amazing views, and the walk to the venue is approximately 30 seconds! This quiet part of town with such a variety of unusual backdrops, indoors and out, was the ideal place to take some group photos. It’s always a nightmare trying to get people together in London for photo shoots, so whenever possible we try to organise them on tour. We spent a very useful hour or so taking a zillion pics for perusal and editing at a later date. Where would we be without digital photography?

Working with Asko feels like coming home. As usual, the percussionists are the people we know best (we’re usually on a riser at the back of the stage and the percussionists are often just in front of us), and they’re all adorable. In Monts Mandara (the Cameroon piece), many of our complicated rhythmic patterns were doubled on mallet instruments and we had great fun with our little “duets”.

Our first concert was in Eindhoven. We’d been given train tickets from Amsterdam, but none of us knew about the new rule whereby you have to have photo ID on trains. Fortunately, we managed to blag our way out of the situation on the way there, but we made sure we sat close to Rogier on the way back. If only all producers were like Rogier van Splunder – equal parts personable and professional – perfectly efficient, with a delightful lack of pretentiousness or self-importance. I say this mostly because he organised the most delicious Indonesian buffet between rehearsal and concert in Eindhoven. How to keep a bunch of musicians happy! At the same time as our concert in Eindhoven, Steve Reich was making an appearance in Amsterdam in a programme that started with Clapping Music. His performance was relayed onto a screen at the back of our stage, so that both concerts could start the same way. It was a good idea and worked well.

The second concert (in Amsterdam) was the more high-profile event. All the composers were there, and Tehillim was to be accompanied by a light show by Carel Kuitenbrouwer (you can see/hear the concert on You Tube – type in “Tehillim + Muziekgebouw” or click on the link on our “Breaking News” page). Steve, happily, was delighted with our performance and Caroline was given the seal of approval.

One thing I’m always aware of in Amsterdam is the generosity of colleagues. Reinbert de Leeuw (conductor) was in the audience. Claron McFadden (my favourite soprano) and Louis Andriessen’s assistant, Mirjam, were also there to support us. I know that Louis would have come too but he was away collecting his Grawemeyer award. After the concert, many of the players stayed behind for a drink in the bar, and we had a great time.

Apart from playing brilliantly, Asko were an absolutely joy to work with. It seems to me that they have got their music-making environment just right. There is a real pride and enthusiasm in their work. It’s such a shame that professional music-making in Holland has this dark financial cloud hovering overhead at the moment. We can only hope that the powers that be see sense and make sure that ensembles such as Asko continue long into the future. They are an inspiration.”

Micaela

Synergy represented by:

Amanda Morrison, Julia Batchelor, Katy Hill, Micaela Haslam

“After one “brush-up” rehearsal in London a couple of days before the concert, we headed to Birmingham for London Sinfonietta’s second 2011 performance of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians.  I received a call from London Sinfonietta the day before the concert to say that they were short of a speaker at the pre-concert talk in Symphony Hall.  Tal Rosner had been asked to discuss his collaboration with Thomas Adès in In Seven Days, but it turned out that he wouldn’t be at this concert after all.  Understandably, the piano soloist Nicholas Hodges wanted the time before the concert to prepare for the performance, which was being recorded for a CD – so, would I mind discussing the Reich?  Delighted, of course!

Having coached the piece several times now, with a variety of ensembles, and having performed it around 80 times in concert (many with Steve Reich in the ensemble, and even more with Steve Reich on the sound desk), I like to think that I know the piece just about as well as anybody could, and I really enjoyed the opportunity to share some of my knowledge and enthusiasm with the audience.  I hope those who came to the talk enjoyed the performance more as a result.  I have to say, it is sometimes nice to be given some pointers in respect of how to listen to a piece.  Music for 18 is perfectly accessible without a pre-concert talk, of course, but I do think that a little insight can enhance the experience of a live performance.  Anyway, I really enjoyed tackling Andrew Burke’s questions, and some from the audience, and I was really touched by all the generous feedback.

Symphony Hall was quite different from Glasgow City Halls.  It was probably a more suitable venue for this piece, as the huge sound needs a lot of space.  Every venue has its own challenges, both for the players and for the sound engineer.  To my ears, the biggest problem is always getting enough of the front octet in the mix.  The bass clarinets shouldn’t really sound like bass clarinets – more like a train coming through a tunnel!  Still, the concert was really well received and it feels as though the Sinfonietta players are becoming more and more “at home” with the piece.  Rumour has it that we might have another Music for 18 in the pipeline with LS later this year.  Watch this space….”

Micaela

Synergy represented by:

Rachel Weston, Micaela Haslam, Heather Cairncross, Amy Haworth

“Wonderful, as always, to be back with EIC in Paris and great to work with François-Xavier Roth for the first time. We had sung Tehillim in concert only a few days earlier on the South Bank (with London Sinfonietta), so we were ahead of the game, but every performance is different so you can never be complacent, no matter how well you know a piece.

I had enjoyed Tom Adès’ rhythmically precise, somewhat “vertical” version of Tehillim the previous week. Now, François had a much more linear approach, with more “bounce” to the dotted crotchets. Both versions have their place and it’s always really interesting to do the piece with a conductor who is new to the piece. This time, we had 3 rehearsals over 3 days, so the players had more time to get used to the very tricky rhythms of Tehillim. I wonder how many consecutive bars are in the same time signature. I’ll check it out next time – I bet there aren’t many!

The most difficult decision we had to make each day was where to have dinner. Eating out in Paris is never a problem, of course, though choices are somewhat limited in the Porte de Pantin area where the Cité de la Musique (and our hotel for the week) is located. Fortunately, the café attached to the Cité is very good, and we also managed to find a wonderful French restaurant called La Poule au Pot just down the road. It is delightfully French in an old-fashioned sort of way. Both service and food were excellent, and I hope it never changes.

The following evening, we got more adventurous and headed down to Le Marais, where you are spoilt for choice. It might sound somewhat disloyal to the city, but we ended up in a very nice Italian restaurant. There is, after all, a limit to the amount of steak/frites one can consume in a week – or so they tell me!

The concert day finally came around and we had a good run-through of Tehillim in the morning. They say that you should have a bad dress rehearsal in order to have a good concert, but I’m happy to report that on 25th February 2011 in Paris, this theory was disproved! The rehearsal went really well and the concert was even better – a really spirited performance of Tehillim, I thought – and the audience loved it! I lost count of how many times we had to return to the stage for bows. There were slow hand-claps – the whole works! Then, the perfect end to our week in Paris was a delightful dinner after the show with François, and the EIC team. Lots of wine, delicious food and much merriment was had by all, and we’re looking forward to our next visit already…!”

Micaela

Synergy represented by:

Rachel Weston, Micaela Haslam, Heather Cairncross, Amy Haworth

“We had just one day of rehearsal to put Tehillim together with London Sinfonietta. Thomas Adès knew the piece well, but hadn’t conducted it before. He was really up against it because there was barely enough scheduled rehearsal time. Fortunately for all concerned we also knew the piece well, Tom was extremely clear, and very efficient with the time he had. That said, Tehillim is best played in over about three days, so this was serious cramming!

Lots of our Music for 18 colleagues were on the team – Laurent Quenelle, Lionel Handy, Sam Walton, John Constable, Aidy Spillett, Serge Vuille, David Hockings and of course the inimitable Tim Lines who I’m happy to say plays much of my line in unison. We’ve had past experiences of unintentional canons in the first section of Tehillim but we knew that the clarinet parts were in safe hands this time.

The second half of the programme featured Thomas Adès/Tal Rosner’s In Seven Days so this was a very popular concert. Quite a few of our friends and colleagues came along, including my BBC job-share partner Alison Smart, Caroline Jaya-Ratnam (who will be singing Amy’s part in Amsterdam with us next month) and Mark Rickerby, our loyal fan who had come all the way from Calgary with his delightful family to hear this concert. Now, is that dedication or what?

The sound on stage was great, thanks once again to Ian Dearden, and from what I gather, it was great out front too. I really enjoyed this performance. Tom got the speeds just right – 1st, 2nd and 4th movements fast enough to be interesting and exciting, without sacrificing the ensemble, and relaxed enough in the 3rd “slow” movement to provide the necessary contrast. I loved Tom’s attention to detail and hope we get to do Tehillim with him again. In fact, let’s record it! It’s about time we recorded this piece properly after fifteen years of singing it live. Anyone got any spare funds for such a project……?”

Micaela

Synergy represented by:

Katy Hill, Amanda Morrison, Micaela Haslam, Julia Batchelor

“We had 2 days of Music for 18 rehearsals in London before going to Glasgow. Back to eighteen musicians for this concert, as opposed to the nineteen (including Steve Reich) that we had in October 2009, it was important to make sure that everyone knew exactly what they were doing, especially the three players who were completely new to the piece.

There are various options in terms of who plays what in Music for 18 Musicians, and a fair bit of swapping around to be done, so we spent some time sorting all that out. All was going well but, unfortunately, our new violinist Laurent was feeling increasingly unwell. On the 2nd day of rehearsals his doctor sent him off to A&E, so we spent a morning not knowing whether he’d even make the concert, and it was really too late to find someone else. Thankfully, he battled through and I’m very grateful that he did, because he is a very fine addition to the team.

On a personal level, I was particularly excited to be doing Music for 18 in Glasgow because my sister and family live there, and it meant that my two nephews, Donald and Stuart, could come and hear the piece for the first time. I met the whole family for lunch, then the boys came with me to the rehearsal, and it was lovely to have them there.

City Halls was not the easiest place for Music for 18 as it’s so resonant, and there are no acoustic panels over the stage to push the sound forwards. The middle frequencies (of the marimbas in particular) swam around the hall, building up on stage as the monitor sound was re-amplified by all the microphones. Ian Dearden, our sound engineer, had quite a job trying to balance the instruments and voices. In the end, he more or less turned off the marimbas in the front of house speakers, as they were in danger of overpowering everything else.

Always I find that the success of the ensemble in Music for 18 is down to how well the players can hear what they need to hear. In the end, I think we all did a really good job, though with hindsight perhaps I should have encouraged all the mallets and pianos to play more quietly. To be honest, the piece really needs a bigger hall (or drier acoustics), but I’m glad we went to Glasgow, especially as Donald was able to return that evening for the concert, with his friends (it’s very important to keep up one’s “Cool Aunty” status in this day and age!) and we had a wonderfully appreciative audience. Steve Reich was definitely a hit in Glasgow and I hope they’ll have us back soon.”

Micaela

Synergy represented by:

Amy Haworth, Micaela Haslam, Rachel Weston, Heather Cairncross
Andrew Busher, Gerard O’Beirne

“Initially a solo voyage to Stockholm, I had three days to coach the ensemble (members of the Stockholm Philharmonic) for Music for 18 Musicians, then a couple of free days before the other singers arrived.  It took me a while to get all the players’ names memorised (I’m hopeless at remembering names!), but we soon got to know each other as we worked our way through the piece together.  Unfortunately, the publishers had sent an old edition of the score and parts, so my newer score was unusable.  Music for 18 is unlike any other piece of music.  It works on a cue system, without conductor, and the amount of time spent on any given section is largely down to the players.  Stockholm Philharmonic had been sent a realised edition, with about 100 more “bars” than my modular score.  Anyway, we perservered with the parts we had and managed to “unrealise” it as we went along – and correct all the mistakes (I think we’ll have a big bonfire this year and get rid of the old edition once and for all!).

What an inspirational team of players this was.  Writing this diary on the plane back to London (the concert was only two hours ago!), I am missing them all already.  This was an incredible first performance of Music for 18.  I hope the instrumentalists are all having many beers in the bar now because they throughly deserve a celebration!  There are several really tricky sections in this piece, but we’d worked hard on ensemble, tempo and balance, to the point where I knew that if anything went wrong in performance, it would something totally unforeseeable.

As long as Music for 18 is properly rehearsed and understood by all (as it was in this instance), a good performance is, to a great extent, down to the sound on stage (both acoustically and from the monitors).  Each section is “led” by a different pattern.  The players on the “pulses” have to stay in touch with this pattern, and the players at the front have to stay in touch with both.  We were quite spread out on the Stockholm Konserthus stage, so our fate was largely down to the sound guys – Sound Intermedia.  Fortunately, we couldn’t have been in safer hands.

Apart from the other four concerts Sound Intermedia were engineering in this festival, this one involved setting up Music for 18 (including ten on-stage monitors) for the soundcheck, striking the stage, setting up for Sextet, then resetting the whole thing during the interval.  Added to this, the concert day was the first opportunity we’d all had to play the piece in the hall.  I know that Sound Intermedia have a digital desk, so they can preset levels, but believe me that isn’t always a guarantee that the sound will be the same in performance.  Anyway, we can’t thank them enough.  As soon as we started, I heaved a sigh of relief as I realised that everyone could hear what they needed to hear.  The speed was great, Alf (clarinet) got the pacing just right, and they nailed all the tricky bits.  I was so pleased for all concerned.  Their success was richly deserved, and a sold-out Konserthus, a delighted composer, and a standing ovation provided the icing on the proverbial cake.

During the week, several people asked me how many times Synergy Vocals had performed Music for 18.  I knew it was a lot but couldn’t remember, so I looked it up on the computer.  This was our 75th performance of the piece – and the first performance of the piece in the year of Steve Reich’s 75th birthday.  What were the chances of that?  It’s hard to believe that Steve will be 75 this year.  He looks amazing – in fact even better than he did at 70.  We’re so privileged to work with him, and of course we’re hoping that he’ll live to be at least 105!

Going back through the week, our “middle” concert was Proverb.  It’s such a beautiful, “simple”, Perotinesque piece, but blimey it’s a high-wire act!  Extremely exposed and dead straight, with phrases that get longer and longer, it’s a recipe for larynx melt-down.  Rachel had only sung the piece once a long time ago, and had had a nasty cough the previous week, but she did a great job.  Heather sat in the audience and said that, unless she looked up, she often couldn’t tell who was singing what.  The legend that is Andy Busher was brilliant on tenor 1, and he and Gerry are just the best tenor duet you could ask for.  They sound great, they’re utterly reliable, and they scrub up quite nicely in concert dress too!

Our first concert, and indeed the first concert of the festival, was You Are (Variations) and Tehillim.  This is a big concert for any conductor –  B. Tommy Andersson stepped up brilliantly to the plate.  He declared (as others have declared before him) that conducting Tehillim is more difficult than conducting The Rite of Spring.  I’m sure he’s right.  One false move and the whole ensemble goes over the cliff!  Once again, rehearsals were an absolute pleasure.  Tommy was delightful, well-prepared, good-humoured and absolutely committed to giving the best performance we could possibly give.

The performance almost didn’t happen at all, however.  The concert was scheduled for 18.00 with a rehearsal from 10.00-13.00.  We played through You Are (Variations) at 10.00, retired to our dressing room for coffee then all the lights went out.  There was a major power cut due to a basement fire a few blocks away and a thick band of central Stockholm was completely without power.  What to do?  The management dealt brilliantly with the crisis, I have to say.  Direct lines of communication were set up between the electricity board and Konserthus, and we were told that they hoped to have power back on at 14.30.  A meeting was called for 15.00, flyers were printed saying that the concert was postponed / cancelled, and we discussed the possibility of rescheduling the concert over the weekend.  Still no electricity at 15.00, so a final meeting was called for 16.00 – last chance to make an 18.00 concert possible – and on came the lights!  We managed to rehearse Tehillim between 16.15 and 17.10, rushed off to get changed and made up, then headed straight back to the stage for the concert!

The players involved in this concert were quietly industrious and phenomenally talented.  I still fail to understand how some percussionists can play Tehillim without a single triangle or a line written over the printed bars.  From where I was standing, they seemed to be reading wall-paper.  I like to think I’m pretty good at rhythm, but I’m sure that my brain would melt down after about 16 bars of one of those clapping or drumming parts.

Music aside, Stockholm was (as to be expected in January) extremely cold.  Check out the chunks of ice in the river.  I was mesmerised by the ice pushing its way under the bridge and rushing down the weir on the other side.  It was like playing iceberg Pooh-sticks!

We were busy with rehearsals on most days, but managed a group outing to the incredible Vasa Museum.  I’m so glad that I knew nothing about this glorious ship before entering the museum – you get such a “wow factor”.  It’s the most remarkable salvage project you’re ever likely to encounter.  If you go to Stockholm, don’t miss it.  It’s hard to believe that 95% of this ship (which sank after sailing less than one nautical mile on her maiden voyage in 1628), is original.  You could be forgiven for thinking it was a film set for Pirates of the Caribbean.

Apart from the Vasa Museum, I managed to enjoy a couple of days staying with my partner Will at the apartment of my good friend Kimberley Akester (another ex-Swingle) who now lives in Stockholm and runs SITS (Stockholm International Theatre School).  It was a bit chilly for aimless wandering, but we managed several trips to Wayne’s coffee shop in the market square which, apart from a very good mocha, offered a fine view of our musical home for the week – the Konserthus.

Huge thanks to everyone at Konserthus for looking after us so well.  We really do appreciate all the lengths you went to to make us feel as comfortable and welcome as possible (though we’re not entirely convinced about your choice of hotels…).  We’re absolutely thrilled that plans are already afoot to work together again, and we look forward to our next visit already.”

Micaela