Henry in Guyana

Things are heating up on the musical front - I'm accompanying the Saints choir of 11-13 year olds who are singing a couple of carols at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at Brickdam Cathedral tomorrow night. This should be quite jolly but I'm afraid to say that the past few nights have involved many wasted hours sitting in the Cathedral waiting our turn. We have been doing run-throughs with the other acts but we are always told to arrive at 6:30 and then sing for 5 minutes at 8:30 and go home. I'm not sure why everyone doesn't have specific rehearsal times, and the Saints students are incredibly patient given that they are sitting around for so long. I imagine they must have very patient parents too as a number come along as it is late for children to be out alone.

Having said all this, the event should be good and I'm looking forward to it - the piano has been tuned so the most important notes now work (apparently it fell over a couple of times recently) and Saints are sounding good. The Cathedral itself is very grand and well kept, although the acoustic is a bit too open for singing. The pipe organ is sadly out of commission but there is a good electric organ that mostly works except for a few stops and buttons which were apparently taken out by a power surge.

With a population in the region of 700,000 Guyana can be considered a bit of a "small world" which I have been reminded of a few times. Last week I was invited to play the piano at someone's house (who I didn't know) which I accepted. Then I had to turn down an invitation to go to dinner at someone's house as it was at the same time. The fact that both were at the same time aroused my suspicions, which were confirmed when I arrived and learned that it was one and the same house! My presence was also preceded by this blog which the hostess had already read - it seems to be going around the Guyanese diaspora and coming back in to Guyana which I am pleased to hear. This map of recent visits shows a little about its readership, I just need to work on Africa and Russia now.


The following day I went along to Woodside Choir, which from what I gather is the one of the best choirs (at least in the classical tradition) in Guyana and possibly the only one that tackles four-part harmony. It was very jolly and resembled a small choral society you might find in the UK. I was again reminded of the size of the place as someone there who I had never met already knew who I was as she was coming to a lunch with me the next day. She also knew my father, and it's always nice to meet people who remember him. The rehearsals are held at Bishops' High School which like Saints is seen as a top school, and from my brief visit it looked well kept and well equipped. I will be away for the Woodside concert this term but hope to join in after New Year, and there are a number of very musical people in it who I am sure will be useful people to know. Making the effort to meet people and put myself out there is definitely paying off...