Almost one week to go and we're very much in sleep-losing nail-biting mode. Well, I say 'we', but probably mean 'I'.
The latest crisis seems to be with John our Principal Bass. We've only got two basses in Riga, and most of our music has two bass lines, so basically (no pun intended), we can't survive if either bass has a problem. I'm worried that John is going to have his leave cancelled due to recent events (and possible future events) in London where we both live. He's confident that it won't happen, but the thoughts of going without him are playing over in my mind, and making me feel unsettled. If there's one person I don't want to go to Riga without, it's john. I hope this is just Mellor paranoia, but am slightly paranoid that it might not be. Must also keep some perspective - we're talking a choir tour here, and some people have lost much more in recent weeks.
The good news is that I've literally just come off the phone (between this paragraph and the first paragraph) from Anna Boggon, our 'composer in residence' for the tour, who's told me that the piece she has written for our performance on Wednesday 17 August is 'in the post'. Haydn, Mozart and even Mark-Anthony Turnage are known for their last-minute completion of compositions - and I don't think Anna has achieved anything near a record yet - but needless to say it was getting a little tight! Our most sincere thanks are due to Anna for her creative efforts in writing us a piece which she just tells me has been a 'big challenge' - I'm sure we will benefit hugely from performing a work for the first time.
That's it for now - hopefully my next update, our last in England before we go, will be all excitement and no fear!
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