The Master’s Blog 29

From the Master

LONDON NORDIC CHOIR: MONDAY 4 JUNE 2018
We start the week with a concert under the dome in The Old Bailey given by the London Nordic Choir which performs tonight in aid of the Sheriffs’ and Recorder’s Fund. Their programme of music (mainly pieces by Swedish writers and composers) shows this relatively new choir in a good light with some delightful harmonic singing.
GUILDHALL SCHOOL OF MUSIC STUDENT RECITAL: WEDNESDAY 6 JUNE 2018
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama performs a significant role in the City of London and, as I have a spare morning, I pop into their Milton Court Hall to witness one of their students given a piano recital under exam conditions. It is impressive to see this young student perform (with no music) for almost one hour and I hope that her examiners were positive about the performance. I had planned to sit in on the second recital but am disappointed to be advised that the student has not turned up and the recital has been cancelled.
CONSTRUCTORS’ SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN BANQUET: THURSDAY 7 JUNE 2018
We are guests of the Worshipful Company of Constructors this evening for their annual Sir Christopher Wren Banquet in the Egyptian Hall at Mansion House. It is a good gathering of Constructors and visiting Masters and their Consorts and I am placed at the table beside a Past Mistress Constructor whose home is in Glasgow (we are not the only Scottish Master and Mistress!).
LIVERY VISIT TO IRONBRIDGE: FRIDAY-SUNDAY 8-10 JUNE 2018
For 35 years in succession, the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs and Livery Masters, Prime Wardens, Upper Bailiffs and their Consorts have spent a weekend at Ironbridge in Shropshire and we travel back to Shropshire for this occasion (having been in the county just a few weeks ago at Bridgnorth for our excellent Plumbers’ Company visit).
It is a lovely weekend in every sense and as well as getting to know some of our fellow Masters and Consorts better, we meet some new ones for the first time. We are amazed at the extent of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum site and really appreciate the opportunity to have a whistle-stop tour of just a few of the ten museums located there. Although the famous Ironbridge is under wraps as it is undergoing a year-long restoration programme, we learn much about the history of the area and the significant role which it played in the Industrial Revolution. This is quite an amazing place and we hope to return one day when we might have a little more time to view the area as a whole.