Meet the voices behind the harmony

Lyndsay Fielder

I was 9 when my dancing teacher told my parents, “This girl should learn to play the piano”

My father borrowed money from my Godmother and went straight out and bought a new piano! (What a gamble!)  Happily, I took to my lovely new instrument and enjoyed the new learning process always alongside my passion for dancing and drama. At 18 I began my teacher training and although music wasn’t one of my main subjects, I continued my piano studies alongside gaining a degree in Geography and Education.

As a primary School teacher, I was always called upon to play piano and I included music wherever possible, eventually gaining a post of responsibility for music. I was always happiest in my 36-year career when taking recorder groups; working with pupils learning instruments (alongside peripatetic staff); accompanying school choirs; organising concerts and musical productions.

As well as the piano, I learned to play descant, alto and tenor recorders, thanks to and inspirational teacher at my high school. To this day, I play alto recorder, especially baroque music and belong to a music group in the Lake District.

I have an eclectic taste in music; classical, musicals, popular (not rock/heavy metal & such) and most happily, everything Kath chooses for the choir! It’s impossible to select one piece of music; Grieg is my all-time favourite composer, closely followed by Chopin, Bach, Granados, Tchaikovsky, Debussy. I love the songs of Ivor Novello: “I can give you the starlight” and Jerome Kern.

MUSIC FEEDS THE SOUL!

AN ANECDOTE        In 1969 my dancing teacher was organising a Dance Festival at St George’s Hall in Liverpool. For some reason, unknown to me, there was no pianist available to play for the Dance Improvisation Class, so I was persuaded to step in! Having been given the music to peruse for a short while before having to play it, I began to feel rather nervous!

The festival classes were being held in the small concert room. However, I had previously noticed a beautiful Grand Piano in the GRAND HALL. So, with the nerve one only has as a teenager, I entered the Grand Hall to find the piano was unlocked!! Hey! Presto! I had a short time to practise this new music in these wonderful surroundings! What an experience – to play a Grand Piano in The Grand Hall in a beautiful setting. The actual event went well and as they say, “I played all the right notes in the right order”, albeit a little slower than the dancers expected – so their dance was longer than expected too!  Better to be accurate and slow than make a mess of things – for everyone, I think!

My thoughts on ENCORE SINGERS 

Encore Singers, the newly branded Blackpool Ladies Choir, and led by Kath were looking for a pianist just after I had retired, and family commitments were becoming less. And although I often played piano for my own enjoyment, I was astonished at how much I missed accompanying a choir once I joined Encore.  I believe our similar backgrounds in music and drama make for a great partnership between Kath and me.

The variety of backgrounds, ages ideas and outlooks all coming together to sing and support each other make for a very special choir!

I have fond memories of all our concerts and I especially love the way Kath builds a programme and chooses a theme to include poetry, stories, and ideas which enhance the music.