My year as organ scholar in Truro will always remain one of my most special, and it is always such a pleasure to visit. I was so happy to have found the time to escape down to Kernow for a few days this week. Living and working in Peterborough has definitely affected my perspective a bit - everything seems a bit smaller in Truro now; the cathedral as well as the Father Willis both seem like charming miniatures compared to the massive building and organ in Pb. However, they don’t call Truro’s instrument the Little Giant for nothing - Chris Gray offered an excellent Friday lunchtime recital in memory of longtime cathedral steward John Musgrove and showed off the organ’s many riveting colours (big and small) in an awesome program of Howells, Elgar, and Bach. Was especially great to hear the first movement of Elgar’s Sonata, again, having just put so much blood, sweat, and tears into my own performance of that work, half a year ago in my MMus recital.
I also revisited favourite haunts from my scholar year: the cinema, the Old Ale House, the Yak & Yeti (looove the curry there), various cozy cafes, and of course the Cathedral Restaurant for a lovely breakfast and at least 6 cups of tea (the perfect beverage over which to catch up with someone, naturally) over the course of my time there. Also I got to spend some quality time practising piano in the cathedral crypt, where I spent many hours (happily) labouring over the maintenance of the choir’s music library. Glad to see it isn’t in total disarray at the moment! I’m afraid I must be one of the nerdiest organ scholars around, in that I truly enjoy organising and filing away music…
Anyway, after a slightly stressful journey back up to Cambridgeshire yesterday (I almost missed my connection in King’s Cross by a matter of seconds), I’m feeling recharged and ready for the big push through to Christmas. Lots of exciting stuff coming up - do look over at my Events page for a taste of what I’ll be up to in the coming months. And (more nerdiness now), though I love Christmas as much as anyone, I’m truly excited for Lichfield Cathedral Choir’s Advent Quiz (link is to last year’s version) coming up at the start of December - will work extra hard this year to rise above honourable mention, hopefully.
Off to Cambridge this evening to hear fellow ex-Truronian Joseph Wicks in concert at St John’s - can’t wait to hear one of the best choirs in the world in Evensong afterwards! And then back to the daily grind with our lovely Peterborough Cathedral choristers tomorrow morning, bright and early at the King’s School. Looking forward to my conducting debut at Evensong tomorrow, too.