Music with Miko

Once a fortnight, on a Friday morning Miko comes to sing Morning prayer with us and to lead us in one of our hilariously entertaining music lessons. We were thinking of doing a recording some time so that we can let you in on the secrets of what goes on! SPES offers us a wide-ranging and inspiring formation, but I must admit I was surprised to learn that we'd be learning to sing too! For me at least, it's proved to be a real highlight. It provides a safe environment to make as many mistakes as you want in the name of good fun. But we learn a lot too... So far we've nailed five of the nine hymns given in the Office for Compline (Night Prayer). Our Salve Regina is much improved - Mirela helps us to get the pronunciation right - but it's proving hard to shake off the bad lessons some of us have learned. And Miko composed a nice setting of the Nunc Dimitus for us which we're getting quite good at. Allen has a beautiful voice and a good ear, so bouyed by his talent and enthusiasm we hope to tackle some Taize chants next so that we can evangelise at the bus stop with our four-part harmonies!