I can’t believe how close we are to Christmas. Present buying has started and some gifts are wrapped and ready but there’s still a long way to go and not much time to get organised.
I am actually at home this morning! Having a chilled one with a cup or two of Lady Grey tea and Spyder the cat. In a little while I’m going to hop on the mat for some yoga and meditation, before packing for another trip to York, only this time I’m not 100% sure when I’m coming back, but more on that later.
This past week has been another mad one, I got some hang-out time with CLOUDS, which is always lovely. We managed to get all four of us plus four harps in one lift – photographic evidence doesn’t really do it justice but I’ll just leave this here:
The gig of the week was on Sunday at a church in Adel, just north of Leeds. A real treat for me as it was Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols with the Leeds Guild of Singers.
I was also asked to play a solo, so I played an arrangement of Divinum Mysterium – people often know it as Of the father’s love begotten. One of my favourite Christmas carols. The Leeds Guild of Singers sounded really lovely so do go and see them if you live in or around Leeds.
So from Leeds it was then time to drive back to Manchester ready for my final shift at Chetham’s School of Music on Monday morning. I’ve been a member of the Practice Team pretty much since leaving college, but now that our big move is just around the corner it’s time to stop my regular shifts there. I’ll still go back to cover shifts here and there if need be but it will only be from time to time.
It feels so strange to be cutting my ties with Manchester. The massive things for me were saying goodbye to the choir of St. Ann’s Church, where I’ve been singing since 2012, saying goodbye to my Manchester private students, and, of course, Chetham’s. I know I’ve made friends for life, and I’ve had the time of my life in Manchester but it’s time to close this chapter and start a new chapter in 2019. As sad as I am to be leaving Manchester I am so excited to be going back to my Yorkshire roots, setting up a new home with my partner-in-crime and seeing what opportunities I can grasp east of the Pennines – and if you’re reading this, you’ll be coming with me every step of the way. Thank you.