My life has been an interesting journey with many twists and turns that I could never have imagined when I was a child. Having just returned from a week’s holiday in Aldeburgh this seems an appropriate time to share a childhood experience.
I grew up in a very ordinary town called Hatfield and went to the local comprehensive school. Not very exciting you might think, but for me it was the beginning of an incredible life of amazing musical experiences.
On 13th December 1974, at the age of 13, I took part in a school production of a children’s ‘opera’ called ‘The Golden Vanity’ written by a man called Benjamin Britten.
At the time I didn’t know that my Headmaster, a brilliant pianist himself, was a huge fan of Benjamin Britten’s music. He had named one of the ‘houses’ in our school after Britten, although I was actually in ‘Darwin’ House, 2D.
One of the boys in our production, who was in 2B, wrote to Benjamin Britten and invited him to our school’s performance. Sadly Britten declined the invitation explaining that he had been very ill (with a heart condition). However, he suggested that we could come to him to perform in his local concert hall called ‘The Maltings’.
I remember that day in late December when we drove by coach to the Maltings. I wore my costume, which was actually my Engish teacher’s dark navy blue coat with some braid tacked onto the sleeves to make me look like the captain of the Golden Vanity, which was my solo role. I also wore her long, black leather boots!
We performed ‘The Golden Vanity’ that day to just a few of our teachers and to Benjamin Britten and his friend Imogen Holst. Britten was a frail man sitting with a blanket on his lap. Little did we know that he would pass away less than two years after that performance. However, poorly as he was, I still remember his heartfelt and strong grip as he shook my hand at the end of the performance.
Since that day I have performed at The Maltings on a number of occasions, even getting to meet the late Sir Peter Pears once. However, I will never forget the day we went to perform to Benjamin Britten.
