The Bertie Buzz!

A few hours from now me my choir pals will be on the stage in Stirling! The choir has adopted the nickname 'Bertie' for The Albert Halls so, today, we're all feeling the 'Bertie Buzz!' It’s two years since the Heart of Scotland Choir was formed and the concert’s being held, partly, in celebration of that fact. I can’t think of a more enjoyable way to celebrate! But, there’s more to it than that; the title of tonight’s show is ‘Born This Way, and I think that’s really apt for a Community Choir concert. Gareth Malone has done an incredible job of raising the profile of community choirs and getting the message across that singing isn’t just for lovies, or folk with incredible voices, or pop stars, or opera stars or church-goers, or kids in the playground, or Welsh miners, or music students – ocht, you get the picture. Singing’s for everyone, and that’s what a good community choir’s all about. It brings folk from a large, diverse group (in our case, the Central Belt) together to form one thriving, inspiring, make-you-feel-good community (the Choir). We’re all born different, and we all have different backgrounds, and we all have different jobs, and we all have different family set-ups and, well, you get the picture; we’re all different. But, we all have something very much in common in that we enjoy spending time in each other’s company, we love singing together and we like making good music - both with our voices and with the various musical instruments that some of the talented musicians in our community can play!

Like any community, it has its ups and downs too; it would be unrealistic to suggest that everything’s always hunky-dory, or that there isn’t a feeling of sadness when a member, for whatever reason, leaves the group. I was thinking about that kind of thing recently when I was watching one of the series of Heart of Scotland ‘Rockumentaries’, which document the story of the choir during its first year. Watching us all being interviewed, and singing at various gigs, really brought it home to me how much I miss some of the people who are no longer members; I’ll be thinking about them tonight,  and feeling grateful to have had them as choir buddies in the past. I’ll also miss some of our members who can’t make the concert because they’re off on holiday, or have other commitments. Just like in any community, missing members are just that; missed!

I’m pretty sure that my friends and family are fed-up listening to me going on about how nervous I’m feeling, so they’ll be pretty glad when the concert’s finally come and gone! But, although I've got a tummy full of butterflies, I’m excited too and I’m looking forward to tonight very much. I keep thinking about the post I wrote a few weeks ago, when I was saying that it's OK to hit the odd bum note or two when you’re among friends. And, after all, that’s where I’ll be tonight; among good friends – both on stage and off! Still, I think I’d better go and squeeze in one more practice before it’s time to head to the Bertie! I just wish I had a tenth of my son’s confidence - and I hope the Bertie audience enjoy our performance tonight as much as this lovely bunch did earlier on this year.....