We are usually busy practising our repertoire for the next gig – so it was a good idea by our Musical Director, Christine, to have a two- hour session with local maestro, the renowned and much loved singing educator and performer Richard Morphew.

Our ad. for new members in the local Echo says no experience required but dedication and serious application are the norm at The Heathens, and this resulted in a ninety percent turnout of twenty-six for Richard despite it being a cold winter Saturday.

Richard’s 50 years of international experience brought immediate results starting with a revision of the building blocks of how to sing and then he got us up to speed on a new item – a Harry Belafonte song for our next performance – in four parts, naturally.

To show Richard our general level of competence we first sang an old favourite – “Freedom is Coming” but it was not a patch on our usual – because we didn’t have Christine leading us on guitar (she was singing with the altos – you can’t have two Directors simultaneously). And Chris Arnott, the bass lead, was multi-tasking as per usual – getting morning tea organised – resulting in the basses being out of sync!

But a joyous and productive time was had and Richard’s wicked jokes on the side were appreciated – more than somewhat. Let’s see if we can get him again.

Posted by: Harry