Elizabeth Connell

Liz went off to Vaughan House. Louise had stayed overnight and went off shopping.  I submitted my Dialogue account and did the reading Michael had given me. An interesting article by Denys Turner about "Do we worship the same God" - answer we don't know. To Bloomsbury Baptist for Gary Sieling's excellent recital. Saw Jane and Gary before and afterwards - for once I was able to stay for the tea! A nice programme Bach Passacaglia, Brahms, MacDowell (there is no truth that he wrote this to a girlfriend called Rose who was a bit wild) Clerambault, Stanley, Britten and his own Toccata and Fugue on the Pink Panther theme. Great to have some humour! Then to the first part of Mass which was for new Christians - Alistair sang really badly. Archbishop Vincent. 507 bus to St John's Smith Square for the long awaited memorial concert for Lisa. Saw Richard Wiegold and met Jenny Bacon who is the widow of the first general manager of the Sydney Opera house - Lisa used to go to their farm. Had a very nice chat. At interval saw John East, Ros Clarke and Colin Hartley (very distant as always). I was thinking about the wonderful singing last night. What really sticks in the mind is the singing that moves the listener - Richard Wiegold, Morgan Pearse (a name to watch), Aivale Cole and Sally Silver singing "Thula thula". We also heard some stunning sounds from Stuart Skelton, Yvonne Kenny, Thomas Moser and Elisabeth Meister. Kathryn Harries was a delightful host. And not to forget the pianists among them Stephen Rose. And what a good idea to have some humour! Lisa's legacy will live on!
I was reading today in Praying with Us about a Rabbi who refused to attend a Passover meal unless a Gentile left. This is sad and a misunderstanding of Pessach. We were warmly welcomed for the meal this year by an Orthodox family and it was a moving experience which inspired us all to think about freedom and what it means to not be free.