Another academic year at Keble and I am looking forward to seeing and hearing all the returning students from last year, and to welcoming the new undergraduate and graduate singers. It is going to be a very exciting year, with highlights including choir tours to Hong Kong and Singapore and, of course, the wonderful Keble Early Music Festival next February 2025. You can hear the choir singing live in the chapel during term time., and all the services are uploaded each week to the Keble College YouTube channel.

The summer is always a good time to catch up on learning even more about various aspects of singing. This year I have completed two courses led by John Nix on dealing with the technical side of singing: "Vibrato and Non Vibrato Singing" and "Teaching the Passagio and High Range of Tenor, Baritone and Bass Voices". Coming from another angle, there was a brilliant course, led by Dr David Juncos, called: "An Academic Overview of Music Performance Anxiety".

I really enjoyed choosing the repertoire and working alongside the publishing team to produce this new and exciting set of nine graded songbooks. They contain a varied range of material including musical theatre songs and works by diverse composers who are appearing in the syllabus for the first time.

Collaborating on the supportive teaching notes with other consultants, we have highlighted important technical and musical aspects of the different songs.

Using my qualification as a Vocal Health First Aider, I continue to help people experiencing vocal difficulties.