"On behalf of my Orlando colleagues I can say for sure that we had a wonderful time on Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed the concert and the experience of working with you all.

We often feel that the kinds of things that we ask choirs to do requires them to have a lot of nerve! Plainchant is a beautiful form of music and incredibly atmospheric, yet singing all those unaccompanied lines does take some getting used to. And Tarik O'Regan's piece also has its demands. Not only are there a lot of pages to get through, but there is the additional hurdle of only getting to work with the full ensemble on the day of the event itself.

I am delighted to report that every member of the Orlandos felt that you all rose to these challenges superbly. On the most fundamental level everyone coped admirably with the notes and everything was rock solid. But you all achieved much more than this. The sound of the choir and the blend was excellent and you responded so well to the need for dynamic changes and well-crafted phrasing. You have an excellent director standing in front of you (and I will write to express our thanks to him as well!) which clearly helps, but it is also to your great credit that you combine to produce such wonderful results.

 We also very much appreciated the friendliness of everybody involved and the enthusiasm with which the whole choir approached our unusual project. Please pass on our warmest appreciation to everyone  concerned and we would like to wish you all success with the forthcoming Rachmaninov Vespers."

Angus Smith, the Orlando Consort