I went to another amazing event last night Concerto Magnificent: An Anthology of All Things at Bedford's Corn Exchange. This extraordinary project, which was commissioned by Bedford Creative Arts, brought fifty Bedford residents together in a newly formed choir to perform a work written by the very talented Johnny Parry. To generate words for the songs, Johnny asked people to send him lines or phrases which he then worked up into seven movements, with accompanying orchestration. Some of the phrasing was funny - 'I have a manly beard', or funny and touching - 'I am a cat you are my lap'. There was also a section where names and dedications from memorial seats and benches around Bedford were read out. But it was the music that made it - complex and difficult sections followed by sweeping and intense emotion. And the choir, of mostly amateur singers, were on top form and looked like they were having an amazing time. Which I'm sure they were. It really was extraordinarily uplifting. It's been a sorrowful week and just that afternoon I had been told some very sad news. So after the concert I went for a walk, past some of those memorial benches, along the river Ouse which was totally still and inky black, reflecting the almost full moon, stars and streetlights. There was no-one else around, just the occasional swan drifting by. And it was so silent, the music still in my head.

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