Still in the boxes....

....and here is a photo of the Senior Choir from 1966 at Dumfries Academy.  And I am the end person on the right in the very back row.

It was a great thing to do in school.   The teacher on the right in the front row is John Walker, a highly gifted organist who went on to spend most of his career as a city organist working in Norway.   But at this point he was the youngest ever appointed head of department and under 30.  

We have met for lunch on occasion over the last forty plus years, and I have tried to tell him what a positive influence he was on my life and others.

A section of the choir sang at Assembly every day.    We did an amazing Christmas concert, and an equally amazing summer concert (on alternate years as the Drama department put on a Shakespeare play in between.)    We also travelled up to St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh to sing there.   The repertoire was distinctly classical and religious.  

The result for me was that I fell in love with music..... and  had a great time with good friends.......and through life have been able to sing a bass part fairly competently.

My grouse is that school singing seems to have disappeared in many areas, and replaced with retrended pop songs with no real serious attempt to explore anything too difficult.       One of the arguments has been that the old style was too exclusive.   Doesn't look like it here, does it?          But I do know that there are schools doing excellent music work. and I also know that budget cuts make instrumental tuition harder and harder to find.

Sorry, been preaching.   I'll set it to music!!!