a musical tea party

Part of the music society's charitable mandate is to encourage young musicians.  I don't normally have much to do with young musicians, since one of the advantages of not having children is that you don't have to listen to school orchestras or feign the slightest interest in the soundtrack of Frozen or the music of Justin Bieber.  I have not heard a school orchestra since the last time I attended a prize giving as a teenager at my own school, and in general I'd be quite happy if musicians could spring forth fully formed from the Royal College of Music like Athena from the head of Zeus.

But it is good to encourage young people, and after all various people were encouraging to me when I was young and trying out singing and acting.  And if you belong to a club it's generally better to join in wholeheartedly and sign up for everything rather than trying to cherry pick the parts you think you'll like.  You may sit through a few talks or concerts you didn't greatly fancy, but you'll get to know your fellow club members far better than if you just drop in or out as the mood takes you.  So when the music society decided to stage a short afternoon concert for school age performers followed by tea I said I'd go.

In fact the young performers were all very sweet, and one girl in particular had a lovely voice that she hadn't quite learned how to use yet but had the potential to do all sorts things, choral singing, folk or jazz.  She was not doing A level music or planning on it as a career, but music is a great hobby.  They were all girls.  Is it that not as many boys study classical music, or that they won't turn out to a tea party?

The Chairman had made cheese scones for the tea afterwards, and I had my first mince pie of the season.  My contribution was a honey cake, which this time I did not leave unattended for any time at all so Mr Fidget could not get at it.  There was Earl Grey tea as well as builders, and little sandwiches, and some kind of gluten free tart, and another cake which was pronounced afterwards to have been delicious.  Sadly, I missed that one but I had a jolly good go at the scones.  They won't keep, you know.  Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves, and by the end of it I'd picked up an invitation to a lecture on Thursday about the origins of Santa Claus.

When I got home the house smelled delightfully of bolognese sauce and the Systems Administrator had mended the back of the next compost bin where the planks had sprung.  All in all it has been a productive Sunday.