Triumph!!!

Ah, the sweet smell of success... the feeling of blood pumping through your veins... the sounds of applause echoing through the hall... I experienced all that last night.

The beauty that is the Missa Solemnis (or Mass in D) by Beethoven was finally performed by the Woking Choir at the H.G.Wells centre last night.
I was confident with most of the parts, after all I had spent numerous hours practising at home, and not just in our weekly rehearsals.
Nervous nevertheless, I had trouble breathing at first - there's nothing like stepping out on a stage to do something you love with all your heart. Obviously my strong notes weren't as strong without the support of a proper breath but thankfully, as a choir, one voice doesn't stand out.
I was surprised when it came to the high Bs - I actually managed to sing them without squeaking too badly!!! I had realized that I was hitting the As pretty easily so I thought it couldn't hurt to belt out the Bs too. Obviously it helped that we finally sang with an orchestra and not just a piano accompanist. Clearly I CAN hit those high notes but I don't have the guts to do it in rehearsal. At least now that I know, I will attempt to transfer this to my future performances/rehearsals.

All in all it was a fabulous evening - the orchestra was a bit loud, I sometimes couldn't hear the rest of the choir apart from those in my immediate vicinity but that wasn't too bad. The soloists were good, I didn't dig the soprano she was "bleating" a bit, as a friend put it so nicely but again, didn't dampen my spirits.
I loved singing what we had worked so hard for the past 12 weeks or so - but I still can't get over the fact that we only get to perform once. It's such a shame, we were just getting really good!!! Oh well... on to the next piece - St. Matthew Passion by Bach. I think that will be fantastic too.

I have to say out of all this crap with my work situation and the fact that they kept stringing me along about the transfer for the past four and a half months, one good came out of having to stay here and wait a bit longer... and that was the fact that I got to perform this with the choir.
There's nothing like making music. NOTHING. And I have the power to make music. How much better can it get??? :-D