My name is Andrew Wood and I'm a bass singer and trainee director with the Heart of England Chorus in Leicester. I started out in barbershop just over a year ago with no prior singing experience. I've learnt a lot since then and have had a lot of fun, and it was in the spirit of learning something new that I attended Director's College VI.

How I got to D.C. is a fairly long story-and I'm not talking about the detours taken thanks to Coventry's lack of road signs! In autumn last year, H.O.E.'s former M.D. Frank Salter introduced me to basic directing patterns and asked if I'd be interested in learning more. Curiosity got the better of me, so with the help of our chairman, Chris Sheppard (who has been tremendously supportive in helping me learn about this thing we call barbershop), I applied for Director's College. In the weeks leading up to D.C., I got a fifteen minute slot during rehearsal to direct the chorus and learn more basics from our M.D. Jim Pollock. Before I knew it, January rolled around and I was on my way to Coventry.

I arrived at the hotel at about four PM on Friday, spent fifteen minutes registering and settling into my room, and then sat at a table in the hotel lounge with a group of strangers who very quickly became friends (barbershopper's are like that!). After attending the school for the introduction by Mike Lofthouse, we returned to the hotel and spent the rest of the night singing at the bar! (barbershopper's are like that, too!)

I got somewhere between three and four hours sleep that night, just enough for the twelve-hour day ahead of me at the college.

On Saturday we had lectures which were full of useful information, though for me the ball really started rolling once we got to the practical sessions. There was a group session for the novices where we learned the basics of directing-2/2, 3/4, and 4/4 patterns, preparatory beat and cut-offs, posture-there was a lot to take in but nobody got left behind thanks to the support of the coaches we had.

I felt fully prepared for my one-to-one session on Sunday with the A Cappella Fellas quartet. For that session we were given the choice of three songs: 'Sweet Roses of Morn'', 'The Story of the Rose (Heart of My Heart)', and 'Old Saint Louie'. I'd never heard 'Old Saint Louie' before and wanted to learn it, but decided to go with 'Heart of My Heart' so I could concentrate fully on the directing and not worry about cramming a whole new song in one day.

On Sunday I was naturally a little nervous when my thirteen-minute slot with the quartet finally came. I needn't have been really; the A Cappella Fellas were a friendly, responsive group and it was truly a pleasure directing them. Jon Conway, my coach, gave me valuable feedback and I'm very glad it was captured on tape. I've watched it many times since-perhaps too many!-and am still learning from it.

I must commend the D.C. faculty for the organisation of the event. Having never attended D.C. before (and being a novice to directing), I had some reservations that perhaps my lack of knowledge would hold me back. However, everything was organised in such an efficient way that I was never unsure of anything.

I'm very thankful for receiving a Steve Hall Scholarship. D.C. VI was a very intense, educational-and above all, fun-experience, and one I'll never forget.

Andrew Wood

Trainee Director, Heart of England Chorus (Leicester Barbershop Harmony Club)