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Christmas Day selfieHello Everyone!* Back again, did I miss anything?

Those of you who were in touch personally during the autumn will know that my absence during December was because Jonathan and I spent the month travelling round Australia. The reason I didn’t announce it here was because putting it on a public site that also displays my postal address feels a bit too much like saying, ‘Hey, good moment for burglars,’ so I choose not to differentiate in my blog between travelling unavailability and other-project-busy-ness.

But, anyway, Australia was great. It was an ideal time to go, as it was the first time in goodness knows how many years I didn’t have Christmas performance commitments (and – see below – the last in a while too). Plus, my cousin in Sydney had a new baby to admire. And the Ashes were on. We had a great time, despite the cricket results. Won’t go on about here, that’s what Facebook is for.

So, onwards into 2018. The headline news for my musical life is that this week I start my appointment as the Musical Director of the Telfordaires, a men’s barbershop chorus whose name gives a helpful clue as to their location. I’d not actually worked with them in person until my try-out session in the autumn, but I have arranged for them on several occasions, so we have an established relationship to work from.

It was the Telfordaires who originally commissioned Mr Blue Sky, by the way, as popularised by Reckless quartet. Indeed, Reckless includes two of the Telfordaires’ previous directors, most recently Andy Funnell, who had to step down in the autumn due to work commitments.

All my readers in barbershop land are now nodding, with a better sense of who these guys are, and everyone else is no wiser. All you really need to know for now is that they’re a friendly bunch, who promise to be fun to make music with, and I’m looking forward to it all very much. We rehearse Wednesday evenings, if you’re in the area and fancy joining in the jollies.

Wishing you all the very best for a year of adventure and fulfilling experiences, both in your musicking and in your wider life.

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* ‘Hello Everyone’ is the way they start announcements in Sydney Airport. It sounds so much friendlier and down-to-earth than the traditional, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please’ they use in Melbourne.