Having my own business allows a degree of flexibility and still there are choices to be made. Months ago, in the midst of a busy singing schedule, I opted not to sing this week in two concerts of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, recognising the time commitment involved and the challenges of juggling these demands with my work schedule. Still, I opted to support the chorus by travelling today to Tewkesbury Abbey to sing in Vaughan William’s Sinfonia Antartica, knowing ahead of time how exhausted the choir would be today.

So, my coaching schedule has been condensed and I start the day early in order both to prepare for my day trip to Tewkesbury and to be fully present to my coaching clients before I leave. As I travel to meet my singing colleagues I savour the progress of my clients, enjoying the sense of privilege that comes from our work together.

As I board the coach there is much talk of the Mahler concerts and I experience the slight flutter – a sense of loss – that comes with knowing I have chosen to miss two important concerts. Four hours later, the ladies of the London Symphony Chorus arrive in Tewkesbury just in time to rehearse the ethereal siren-song which emanates from the rear of the Abbey at the beginning of the Sinfonia Antartica. We have time to rehearse and to catch a bite to eat at My Great Grandfather’s across the road before returning to hear the orchestra play Ravel’s Le Tomberau de Couperin and Bruch’s Violin Concerto Number 1 before we sing. Alina Ibragimova plays the solo violin with a commitment and assurance beyond her young years.

22 years into my membership of the Chorus I know that whilst we sing together, our memories of concerts are often strictly personal. I have my own special reasons to enjoy singing in the Abbey, and I enjoy these associations as well as the evening’s spirited performance.

We travel into the night to get home. I blog. It’s already time for bed.