Musical Relay

I had one of the best lunchtimes ever today. As part of the celebrations to welcome the Torch to Norwich a series of short (25 min) free concerts by members of the Britten Simphonia were given between 12 noon and 3 pm in several historic buildings in the centre of Norwich, relay style, so that it was possible to go from one to the other with the concerts being repeated. Being high on enthusiasm but short on time I chose to go to the one in the old skating rink, a concert for strings and tabla. The strings being one violin and one cello.

The old skating rink is now a beautiful shop which sells things from eastern countries, with rugs, carpets and chests and other treasures piled high. The audience for the concert were encouraged to lounge about on the piles of rugs and carpets - lovely and informal.

This is a photo of the wonderful Kuljit Bhamra - one of the world's best tabla players. Several years ago when I sang with the Voice Project he was one of the musicians who worked with us. I was thrilled to bits when he recognised me today ;-)

And yes, this evening I and my friends and their children saw the Torch pass by. The sun shone, the view from my office window was fabulous, the atmosphere great but the highlight of my day was listening to the concert and meeting Kuljit again.