50th Anniversary

Saturday 19th October

Saturday was entirely given over to what was to be the main focus of the weekend: the anniversary concert on Sunday. Involving around 28 pieces of music (and hence, orchestrations to be done by the production team), 8 guest conductors, a chorus of over 40 and an orchestra of 9, this was clearly going to require some careful planning. Luckily, the production team had been planning carefully for the last six months. Unfortunately, this is no guarantee that nothing will go wrong.

Having arranged for rehearsals to begin at 9am in the Turnbull Hall, the production team arrive to discover a crowd of people (who mercifully hadn't enjoyed themselves in quite as excessive amounts the previous night) waiting outside the Turnbull Hall, unable to get in. After the President discovered that campus security don't keep keys for the Catholic Chaplaincy, the matter was resolved by a simple phone call to get Father John out of his bed and ask him to come down and open the door. Cue many cries of "It just wouldn't have been a Cecilian rehearsal without..." and "Some things never change."

With rehearsals planned for the whole day, but only half an hour allotted to each of the chorus numbers, it was inevitable that things would fall behind schedule. Which they did rapidly as the production team frantically tried to cast all of the numerous solos in the space of an hour. After an intensive morning, we were treated to free lunch by our lovely sponsors Curlers, whose sandwiches were disappearing faster than they could be produced. For wherever Cecilians are gathered in a pub, there shall be rapid consumption of everything

In the afternoon, the schedule went rapidly out of the window, greeted with a remarkable degree of patience by all the guest conductors who had to wait hours to rehearse their section. As rehearsals dragged on way past their alloted finish time (and almost the endurance of several members of the company) morale was boosted thanks to the sterling efforts of Iain Campbell - he of the boundless energy who can miraculously instill enthusiasm at eight o'clock at night.

When a halt was finally called to the proceedings, the members past and present retired variously to the pub; their dinner; their families; making sandwiches for 60 people for the next day; and printing out the music which the orchestra was due to play from the next day (on account of which one member of the production team had to be telephoned at midnight and told to go home to bed...)

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