Trumpter Richard Leigh from Longton, Preston was one of 60 young musicians in the Lancashire Youth Symphony Orchestra who visited Rome this summer. This is the third and final extract from his tour diary.
FridayUp at 7am for Vatican tour. Discovered you can get trapped in the doors on underground trains – had to use my rugby mauling skills extensively. Barbershopped on the train, amusing commuters. We are scanned like at an airport on entrance to the Vatican. I want just to lie down on the floor in the Sistine Chapel – it is absolutely stunning. Marble everywhere. The Italians like their paintings too. I have never seen anything like it before.
Final rehearsal at the Basilica in the afternoon, a huge building with an exceptional acoustic, a brass setting.
Concert superb – the tuba concerto was well played and well received. Our final meal together at 10pm with a few glasses of wine to celebrate a job well done.
Saturday/SundayUp at 9am, packing for 10.30am departure. Found James's missing iPod behind radiator while looking for odd socks. Mini-celebration party. More Roma T-shirts on show. The main thing for me and other senior players on the long journey home was to meet most of my sister Helen's friends – many of them newcomers to the orchestra. They are superb people both in their musicianship and their personalities. I am definitely feeling older! Journey enlivened by James 'Rory Bremner' Murray's impression of our esteemed conductor Julian Clayton in action. Back to Chorley on time after a superb tour.
View 'When in Rome...' slideshow with music by the Lancashire Youth Symphony OrchestraRead Part One
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