Aneta Baďurová

This sounds very strange to me, but this will be my last blog from Durham University. I have decided to write my final blog about my experience with the University’s chapel choirs, something which has been a hugely important part of my time here but which I haven’t mentioned much in previous blogs. I suppose it goes to show how many things there are to do at University. During my time at Durham I have sung and been scholar in three chapel choirs. In my first year I sang in the choir at the College of St Hild and St Bede, the college of which I am a member. Singing in the choir was a fantastic way of becoming involved in life of my college: after each service the choir would eat dinner together (which we would get every week for free!), and we sang special services throughout the year to mark significant occasions in the college calendar. One of my favourite memories from University was singing in the Nine Lessons and Carols service in my first year: a Christmas service sung by candlelight, with some really beautiful music, in an absolutely packed chapel.

In 2016, following a project with the History Department at Durham University on the life of St Cuthbert, Irish composer Solfa Carlile was commissioned to write a cantata based on the libretto by Durham academics Nick Pitts-Tucker and Dr Charlie Rozier. The cantata, called Life of St Cuthbert, tells the story of St Cuthbert who is the patron saint of Northumbria and the protector of the whole North-East of England. Durham University Chamber Choir, of which I am a member, was offered to take part in a unique project which involved six performances of the resulting composition in six different locations, copying the journey of Cuthbert from Lindisfarne, where he was a bishop, to his final resting place – Durham Cathedral. The project was comprised of a week-long musical pilgrimage, taking the music from Bamburgh, then through two primary schools in Northumberland and two primaries in County Durham, culminating with a spectacular world premiere in Durham Cathedral with region’s best players, featuring Daniel Tate as St Cuthbert and conducted by James Burton, Choral Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

I would like to use this blog entry as an excuse to escape my academic commitments set by the third year at university for a moment; I will go back to the time at the end of August and beginning of September when I spent three weeks in the beautiful building of the Prague Rudolfinum as an intern in the Czech Philharmonic. What made this internship particularly valuable is that I had the opportunity to observe the work in the majority of the departments of the CP and also completed various tasks the staff had prepared for me. In the Customer Service and Communication Department I experienced what it is like to deal with common and uncommon customer requests and enquiries. I was lucky to attend the annual marketing meeting which provided me an overview of marketing strategies and responsibilities of the department for the upcoming season. I realised that there is so much more to the job of music librarians than meets the eye: not just putting music on the stands and returning it back to folders after a concert. Similarly, the Secretariat have to arrange more than just the director’s agenda. During my internship, the CP were holding auditions both for the main orchestra and the Orchestral Academy; being involved in their running helped me understand how they are organised and how the audition process works. In this blog, however, I will focus mainly on my experience in the Concert and Educational Department as these are the areas I would like to work in in the future.

This academic year, I have been extremely privileged to be part of the Durham University Chamber Choir, which is undoubtedly the best choir I have ever sung with. Known for performing technically challenging music, the choir has developed a reputation for its excellence. It comprises twenty-four singers who are re-auditioned annually. The choir attracts many of the finest choral singers in Durham University and around two hundred people audition every year. It comes as no surprise that I could not believe my ears when I received a call from the conductor that I got in. I was absolutely thrilled and could not wait for what promised to be a year full of amazing singing.

I never thought I would ever be able to say that I have sung for His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, yet this has, to my astonishment, become true. On 15 February, Prince Charles visited Durham City and at this occasion he also attended a concert commemorating the centenary of the death of British composer Sir C. Hubert H. Parry. As a member of the Durham University Chamber Choir, I had the privilege to be involved in this exciting event which showcased some of Durham’s finest musical talents to His Royal Highness.

Even though I am halfway through the first term of this academic year, I would like to dedicate this blog entry to my summer internship, which in many ways was life-changing for me. One of my dreams came true: to work in a theatre. As a production intern in the BARKA Theatre in Brno I had the opportunity not only to take part in the running of the theatre, but more importantly I gained an insight into how non-profit organisations help people with handicaps and how they can enrich their lives.

Even though it passed much faster than I expected, I finished my first year of study at Durham. The last term seems to have flown even faster than the previous two; in the first three weeks we still had some lectures and also revision seminars, but the exams followed straight after. In this article I would like to focus on the exam period and a few weeks that followed.

Since I decided to study Music abroad, many people have asked me what led me to make this decision and why I do not want to read Music in the Czech Republic.

I cannot believe it has been already two months since I set out on the biggest adventure in my life – to study music at Durham University. So far I have managed to move most of my life in two suitcases 2,000 kilometres away from home, become an official member of one of the world’s most prestigious universities, get to know hundreds of new faces and much more.