chorus

 

 

I have fond memories of a walk through red-light Amsterdam streets with two young boys and their parents. And now I stand next to one of those boys again.

 

Don't worry, this is not a story of child abuse!  Michael's parents were two fantastic Christian missionaries from the church where my wife and I  asked Jesus into our lives.  We visited them and their family in Amsterdam over three decades ago when they were serving in a place called 'The Ark'.

 

And now Michael and I are here together again. It's the sound-check for a 'Concert for Ukraine' and he's one of the musicians who will be playing later in the evening. 

 

We start to chat and before long discover our historical links.  A chance encounter or a reminder of how God brings paths to cross? 

 

Michael's changed a lot since I lost saw him - bigger and facially hirsute - but some things, like his passion for music, remain the same.   I love times like these.

 

aurora

 

 

i am aurora

the sun god

 

the light pours out from me

scything apart

the dark 

 

i am aurara

the night-swimmer

emerging from the black

 

i am aurara

i am the dawn

and 

i 

have

come

for

you

 

 

 

when the rain comes

one step at a time

I love my piano!

At school I played both the recorder and the treble recorder and learned how to read music, but then things went quiet for me on the music front. That all changed some seven or eight years ago when Peter, a gifted musician at our church, put up a notice offering to give piano lessons.

I signed up. Whilst playing didn't come naturally I persevered for twelve months or so until Peter moved out of the area and my lessons came to an end. I even invested a bonus from work to buy an electric piano.

Peter gave me the names of one or two piano teachers who could take over from him, but time moved on and I never followed them up.

Fast forward to two years ago and I was having coffee at a local craft centre with Carol, one of my friends.  A new music shop was about to open on-site and piano lessons were once more on offer. Carol said she would love to learn and I didn't take much convincing.  And so we both signed up for joint lessons with the Partridge Brothers!  After twelve months both Carol and I passed our Grade 1 piano exam. We're now working on our Grade 2 with Sam, our current piano-teacher.

I love learning new things and I practice two or three times a week. It's a challenge, but I find it so refreshing to do something different after a day at work in front of a computer.  The pieces we learn for our piano grades are mostly classical, but from time to time Sam will ask us to choose something we like.  Currently, we're working on a song by Adele.

Sam challenges us to look at a piece of music before we start trying to play it.  What's the timing?  What's the music asking us to do? He encourages us to look at the sharps and the flats, the loud parts and the quiet to get a feel for the music and an understanding of what the composer is trying to convey.

My daughter Sophie does wander into the front room from time to time to listen and on rare occasions I'll play for my family.  However, my most challenging public performance to date has been a duet with Peter, my original piano-teacher, during a church talent show.  At first I was nervous but when I started playing I forgot people were there!

What connections do I see between my spiritual life and learning to play the piano?  It's often a challenge, but it's nice when it's in harmony! I find a peacefulness in music, it can transport me anywhere. When I'm playing a waltz I can picture elegant ladies in beautiful dresses gliding round the dance-floor.

To sum it up, it's not easy work, but you can get there ... one step at a time.

the opera singer

Singing wasn’t my first musical love. I used to be a drummer in a band called, ‘Les Aliens’ and I was the only one not allowed to sing!

It was when my friend Roger called round to see me one day that I realised I was passionate about opera. Lyn and I were living in Halesowen at the time and the girls were really small then - I must have been about 24 or 25.  Roger brought me an LP to listen to by Pavarotti called, ‘King of the High C’s’.  Every track had a high C on it, which is the hallmark of tenor singing.  Well, I was just bowled over by it!

Roger was more into the performing arts so to cut a long story short I ended up joining the Forward Operatic Company.  My very first performance was in the musical comedy, ‘Oklahoma’.  We were very popular. We used to perform at the Hippodrome in Birmingham and could fill the house with 3,000 people every night for a week.

I sang in a few more shows before I went to see the Royal Sutton Opera perform at SuttonTown Hall. I knew immediately this was just what I needed to do so I joined the company.  My very first opera was, ‘Gianni Schicchi’ by Puccini.

I started off as a baritone, but as I’ve got older my voice has dropped. I’m now a bass baritone. I’ve been training for more than 30 years with various teachers and one in particular I remember - Michael Lambert.  He rented a room in a Dickensian building in Birmingham and I went to see him for lessons in my lunchtime.

Michael was taught by Benjamino Gigli, the most famous tenor of his generation and he claimed to have a letter in his wallet written by the man himself. To Michael everyone was a tenor, like it or not!

When I’m singing well it feels as if my voice doesn’t belong to me. It’s a really ethereal thing, it’s like the voice is coming from somewhere else, from a much deeper place.  For me, there’s something really special about music in my relationship with God. It takes me to levels it’s difficult to experience in other ways.