It’s all change, isn’t it?

It can’t be all change, or it would be a revolution. In management jargon, it’s stop, start and carry on. What’s gone, what’s new and what’s the same?

Len has gone and taken a few with him now that his new choir has begun. We wondered what would become of him, not so good apparently for a while, but now a new beginning. I for one wish him well and those that remain loyal to him. He was outrageous and passionate, the opposite of the grey man in a suit, and we would do well to remember that.

John Bowden went with him. His recent letter was naive. How motivated was he by the potential loss on the video, against which the committee counselled? He seems as out of touch with the rank and file as Len was.

It’s been like a lock paddle opening, slow and cautious at first to prevent too much boat damage, and then full on to get the gate free to move on to the next bit of the canal. Section leaders making up a musical sub-committee. A web-site. A poll of the choir as to what we would like to sing. A new musical director and a new pianist. Rules for members, like the appropriate wearing of jackets and the minimum practices before you can sing in a concert. Overdue some might say. A new compere, nervous but growing.

Yet many things stay the same. The unstated unwritten purpose remains making music together to which others may like to listen. Many still worry, a little, about the words and whether they are in tune, though I suspect those numbers might decrease with time. There is a new commitment too.

It’s a musical matriarchy. The committee stalwarts are outstanding.

Let’s not let in the grey men in grey suits though. Len may have gone but I sense there are plenty left who will safeguard this.