Rock and an orchestra - a view from in front of the choir

Running around like a maniac

Saturday May 19th was the culmination of a huge amount of work from the Events desk at CMM.  Lindsay began the work by booking the Coton Centre, sending out some initial advertising and setting up the procedure for ticket sales and bookings.  Then when I returned from maternity leave I needed to complete the bookings, organise the volunteers, allocate the soloists and make sure the day itself ran smoothly. 

The day did run smoothly, thanks to the wonderful volunteers - Brian and Gill, Amy, Deb, Elaine, Mick, Paul, Pat, Caroline, Dave, Devon, Bill, Alison, Clive, Jenny, Alan, Pat, Sue, Susan, Jane, George as well as the CMM Team of Rachel, Annie, Roger, Mary, Sally and Tim.  Hopefully I haven't missed anyone out - no doubt people will have chipped in on the day or been approached to help with something on the spur of the moment - Bob, you're one of those!

Once the day was up and running, it was my job to train the amazing choir of over 200 singers.  Most people had sung the musical before, but there were a surprising amount who hadn't so I had to make sure every note was covered.  The choir were very patient and fun to work with, and produced a glorious sound.  Even though the orchestra was bigger than last time, the choir was much bigger and certainly held their own.

Leading the rehearsal with Jane

I was blessed to have Jane help as rehearsal pianist.  She kept everyone in tune and accompanied bits of the rehearsal, enabling me to focus on my conducting.  It is quite tricky playing an electric piano that has been plugged into a system, meaning no sound comes from the speakers on the keyboard but instead from speakers way above your head pointing away from you!  We began the day looking at the two-part pieces, but there was a real buzz in the air when we sang together in four parts for the first time - I think it was Just as I am.  Truly beautiful.  We just managed to get all the pieces rehearsed as the orchestra began to come in ready for the full rehearsal at 3pm.

Devon re-learning Rock

We began that rehearsal with a special piece written by Paul Herrington for the occasion. Once Roger took over the rehearsal I was able to focus on the soloists, making sure they all knew what they should be singing and where they needed to be.  It took Devon a little while to get the hang of Rock again - he had been singing the part of Stephen in Wildfire only the weekend before!  By the performance he was word perfect - good work!

Then once I had introduced the final performance I was free - I played trombone for the two songs where Alan was singing solo, which was fun, and I spent a bit of time roaming the auditorium taking photos and soaking in the performance. It is such a privilege to do my job - to work for a ministry that has touched so many people's lives.  It was also wonderful to have my mum and dad and older sister take part in the day, and for James to bring Michael to show him off a bit!

Thanks again to all my wonderful CMM friends - it is a privilege to have met you over the years.  I'm looking forward to what God has in store for us all next.

The amazing choir

More amazing choir