ArtsFest, 16th September 2007

With Nigel Wood on holiday for the NSC's third Birmingham ArtsFest, the 16th September saw the Choir undergo a significant rite of passage when it appeared for the first time without its founder, conductor and soprillo soloist. The indefatigable, energizing and inspirational direction of Richard Ingham meant that the Choir was never in any danger of being left rudderless, and had he been in the audience, Nigel would no doubt have been proud that on this occasion at least, his ensemble managed very well without him.

He would have been particularly pleased with the tight teamwork of the guerrilla-style music-making required as players made three raids out from its base at Birmingham Conservatoire to performing spots that ranged from the surreal (desolate, windy canal-side), frankly impossible (Centenary Square, competing with fully amplified main stage act), to the positively civilized, at Birmingham Art Gallery.

Nigel's lessons in presentation remained firmly in place too, as Bolero soloists worked the crowds even in perilous proximity to open water on the canal and in the fine but very cramped art gallery. Dominic Lawson's debut as soprano soloist in Waltzing Soprillda was masterful and received with enormous enthusiasm – particularly when he was seen returning to the monstrous bass sax. Richard leading his own Mrs Malcolm on spoons, Michael Brogan's whooping introduction to Shetland Sequence and the irresistible schmaltz of Bohemian Rhapsody – it all added up to an exuberant and extrovert package. Audiences themselves had to expend a good deal of energy and initiative seeking out the Choir on such a chaotic and packed day and it was good to present them with music that so clearly delighted them.

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