Saturday 21st July:

So, day one complete and I'm absolutely exhausted! But what an exciting day, worth feeling like I'm going to collapse now...! Got to London surprisingly quickly, no delays at all despite the flooding on the m4 and underground, so I was delighted to be there in plenty of time. I found the union chapel in Highbury very quickly so had breakfast in Highbury park whilst using someone's wireless network to get on to the internet to kill time...

Rehearsals started with an improvised warm up, scary to say the least. The tuba tutor led us through it, starting off with a simple riff with Peter Weigold aiding too. After an introduction to the week, the team involved and arrangements for the day, we heard a sample of the Uzbek Trumpeters playing, for ten minutes... How do I describe them? 5 of them, plus 2 percussionists... Very very loud trumpets, playing a small variety of notes all together, about 5 metres long too, held up horizontally... I think everyone was a bit surprised at their volume and relatively unrefined sounding music. But, they were very good at what they did!

We were then given our parts and positioned around the huge chapel (multi storey and roomed church). Apparently this was chosen because it is as similar to the Royal Albert Hall as possible with the different heights and areas. First problem, I needed a liar straight away and mine doesn't attached, so I had to put my music cards on the pew in front of me, and the second problem was that the music was in BASS clef in concert pitch which I certainly cant read. Luckily, in my section is a girl called Mieka (pronounced Michael without the L), who is German and who's dad is one of the top Tuba players in Germany . She helped me work out the notes and they're scribbled now all over the pages! Peter said they'd try to get me a treble clef part done by tomorrow, which will make me a lot more confident!

The music is 75 per cent written and the rest improvised, and it really is incredible stuff. Its meant to lead through a war, with different battles. It is very aggressive, free and complicated. I think I'll be in a better position to describe it after hearing it all together in one go in a few days time.

As some of us are under 18, yes ok I'm 17 and a half, the BBC had to keep us there at lunchtime. Which in fact was ok as they bought us a nice lunch, and apparently they give us the lunch allowance too... It also gave us a chance to get to know each other better outside the playing! Mieka ate with Sam, a trumpet player from Norfolk who I've been chatting, and I even though she's 18 because she'd got to know us a bit and we'd got to understand her version of English...!

We've had help in a smaller sectional practice which has helped a lot and had tutors around us in the chapel during full rehearsals which at least give us guidance to where we're supposed to be in the music...!

I feel I got my head around a lot of the music today, especially the feel of the improvised bits. Tomorrow I have a bit of a lie in, don't have to be back at the Union Chapel until the afternoon. The tubes and train have been hassle free and I'm glad I can follow the same route as today tomorrow afternoon.

Sunday 22nd July:

Day two complete and I'm much more confident today. I have a treble clef part in Bb which I can read, making playing a lot easier! I still don't have a lyre but am after talking to Peter, I'm going to find a music shop near the Albert Hall- where we'll be tomorrow- to try to buy a flute lyre which attaches to my hand. I'm going to find their phone number on the internet tonight then phone them 9am tomorrow. I'm a bit scared a music shop won't stock one but... I NEED one, there's no alternative.

The music has really come together today, with all the groups getting used to playing long distances apart. The most difficult part is reading my part from in front of me on the pew and seeing the conductor. With the music we're playing, feeling the beat is literally impossible! Lots of scribbles again today all over the music reminding me of things.

My pitching has been forced to improve a lot and confidence in the improvised sections has grown too. I can play all of the notes, and mostly in the right place. Following the conductor and counting is by far the biggest challenge and not being put off by the screeching trumpets!

For our warm up this morning we did improvisation around a riff, that Peter straight away asked me to make up! Right on the spot! I was too scared and said no, but so did all the euphoniums in the end so I'm thankful I wasn't singled out as bring rubbish and not taking part. I did manage to improvise around the riff that someone else created though!

It has been more fun today, talking to the people around me. The tuba tutor is a funny guy, comments from him every now and again make me crack up. Mieka told me today that she went to a place that will remain anonymous to eat last night and ran out without paying! She doesn't have much money whilst she's here so I suppose you can understand it, but I was still shocked! I think she was encouraged by a random German girl she'd met that evening and eaten with though...

I'm now on the train back to Ashtead, with my euphonium and practice mute which I struggled through the tube! The most difficult time was trying to get my rucksack, me, euphonium, practice mute and Burger King meal through the barrier to get on the platform before it closed on me. I think I made some of the people around me laugh with my method however!

So we've been told tomorrow will involve setting it in the Albert Hall in the limited time we have. I am of course very excited but also nervous about the delayed sound and being in such a prestigious venue with a performers ID badge!!

One thing that has surprised me here, is the number of people reading the Harry Potter book! Sad people... On the train, tube, walking along the street, in parks, even in breaks in our rehearsals!

The lie in tomorrow morning means I'm not too tired this evening, in fact on a bit of a high from feeling I've achieved a lot today. Please god let me be able to find a Flute Lyre in the morning somehow!

Monday 23rd July:

Last day before the short break, done. And a good day! But, without the lyre I needed! I woke up early to phone the music shop I thought would have the lyre. At 9am I called and they said they didn't, but gave me two phone numbers of places they expected to have one! However, after calling them, I still couldn't find a lyre. I then searched on the internet on my phone and got yet more phone numbers, 12 in total, and none had what I needed. Gutted.

Even specialist woodwind, brass and flute shops said no! I even phoned the makers of lyres, (number given by a shop), and still no. So, I've ended up ordering 3 different lyres including a flute wrist lyre to the Albert hall. When I get home, I will email them to alert them they're coming and ask them to keep them for me.

I hope they arrive from a man in the Isle of Wight in time! I can send back any which don't fit correctly.

Today I got to the Royal Albert Hall in plenty of time, but it's quite a walk from the tube station to the venue so I had to keep stopping to rest my arms. My euphonium is very heavy! Carrying the instrument, mute and rucksack through the VERY busy underground today was a real London experience! I've never been so squashed in!

I left my bags in the Albert hall auditorium and was given my ID pass at the stage door. There was an orchestra and opera singer rehearsing in there with BBC TV cameras filming for their technical rehearsal. Then I had a short wait, sitting out on the steps in the sun, until we were allowed to start our rehearsal.

The hall is incredible, I was so surprised at the size and height especially! It took me an hour or so to get my head around it all and the different areas of it. The rehearsal was long with only one short break, unlike other days when we had many breaks.

I can play all of the music today, only struggled in places because I had to hold my music in my hand! The acoustics were very different to Union Chapel but we all soon got used to them.

The trumpet players were spread around the VERY top floor of the hall and Peter had to use a microphone and screens to communicate with them as they were so far away. The tubas play in a large ring around the arena area, the Uzbek trumpeters and percussion and BBC strings (played by a keyboard player in their absence), are on the stage in front of peter. Trombones are at the back of the stage and raised up. The other plays are in two bands, at either side of the stage in the auditorium. I am in one of those bands. There are also trumpet players in random places around the hall at some points as they 'battle' with improvised solos with the two professional trumpet and trombone soloists (men), who are in the centre of the arena.

It all sounds confusing I'm sure, and it is.

The rehearsal finished at about 5pm. Sam, Mieka and I went in search of food. South Kensington seemed very expensive, so we travelled to Victoria and found a pub serving simple food. The three of us ate sandwiches and chips there and then went our own ways.

Sam has been good company in the breaks and outside rehearsals. And Mieka has been fun too, even during the rehearsals when we have nothing to play! She's getting a tour from the project organiser, of the BBC building tomorrow then going sightseeing around London again.

I'm now sat in the Bus Station waiting for my bus, got a long wait then quite a long journey back to Swindon. I'm still a bit nervous I won't have a suitable lyre in time for Thursday's rehearsal but excited about building on my work this week in the rehearsals later in the week. The playing is very obscure and much improvisation, in a descriptive rather than jazzy way. I'm looking forward to being able to play some lyrical music tomorrow at home

Thursday 26th July:

A day that started somewhere near Leeds after travelling to Durham to visit the university, ends with me back in London again.

I travelled straight to the Royal Albert Hall from near Heathrow airport where I was dropped off. It was quite a long and busy journey, letting me see many new areas of London along the way. It didn't take as long as I expected so again I was at the hall with time to spare.

I went straight to the Stage Door to pick up my parcel containing the 3 lyres. After fiddling with all 3, I found that one worked perfectly, a small clip on trumpet lyre, also the cheapest out of the 3. It clips on to my 3rd valve tubing and has a good sturdy hand for the music.

The rehearsal started a bit later than expected as the BBC strings- who we rehearsed with for the first time today- took a long time to setup. They played amazingly and sounded more together than any string ensemble I've ever heard before. I was so impressed. Lots of them also wore ear defenders and had a sound shield around them! We all had a good laugh at that, trying not be to insulted by the 'noise' they thought we'd make.

We were moved into our exact positions around the hall and the lighting and staging around was adjusted. It all seemed very real and professional now with so many people involved in the technical side. The rehearsal was quite rushed in our time amounting to less than 2 hours. Most of it was for the string section as it was their first rehearsal and the Cold stream guard's last. It went better than earlier in the week and was made much much easier by the lyre!!

Our band's tuning was commented on today so that was sorted out but apart from that it was all positive. Tomorrow is another shortish rehearsal in the morning but I think will involve a basic run through with the other performers for Prom 21.

Friday 27th July:

The last day of rehearsals is now over, the performance is next. Today's rehearsal was a run through in order of the evening prom, with the BBC philharmonic orchestra playing before us accompanying 4 French horns. Their rehearsal went on way past when it should have, leaving us hanging around in dressing rooms for ages. Not nice when there's no daylight in there!

We were given instructions from the whole project team, about how to stand, how to go on and off, exactly where we'd sit etc. There is a lot to remember but I'll try just to follow the rest of my section...!

There is a flugel solo in the piece, and the RNCM player performing it stands in front of me, so the spotlight shines on to me too whilst the stage lights are dimmed so all the attention is on him! I hope I don't look too stupid...

Once the rehearsal finally got sorted, we only had time for one run through when we were supposed so have nearly an hour slot... It went the best so far, but counting the sustained notes and the oddly timed bars rest is the most difficult bit.

After the rehearsal, I left my euphonium and practice mute in a dressing room underneath the Albert Hall so I didn't have to carry it all across the tube again. I just hope I can get it out of there at 9am in the morning for the brass massive playing!

I then got back to Ashtead ASAP and printed off a selection of music that I could play in the morning, including a sized down part that I could attach using my new lyre...

I still haven't sent the other lyres back, but have emailed the guy I bought them from asking what method of postage he'd like used and to what address... But no reply as yet... That's a bit of a pain as it means I have to carry them in the package around London with me tomorrow!

Tomorrow I have an early start to get to the Royal College of Music for 9.30 to play with a load of mixed ability brass players, the fanfare. Players from the Great Western Youth Band are travelling up for that and the afternoon prom, so it'll be nice to see them!

Saturday 28th July:

The final day really was a success from beginning to end. This diary entry has been written a good few days afterwards, as the night of the 28th and the following day, I was too exhausted to write it!

It was an early morning, with a busy start packing all of my clothes and kit up, ready to trek that across the tube. I found it quite emotional leaving my grandparents and going on the train for the journey for the last time. It seemed to get shorter every time as I got used to it. I even managed to doze this time as I was so tired and knew the journey subconsciously. I got across the tube in record time as I'd totally got used to where I had to go.

I went straight to the Albert Hall to collect my instrument, and a helpful assistant took me down to the dressing room where all my stuff was thankfully exactly as I left it the day before. It seemed strange at first meeting up with people from the band in the place where I'd been mainly on my own all week.

We queued for a while outside the Royal College of Music before going inside and being split into groups based on the instruments that we played. We started doing a large warm-up with all instrumental players, which involved a lot of breathing, exercises and standing up…

We then moved into our instrumental groups where we had to pin our music (on thin pieces of fabric) to each other's backs so that we could play without stands or lyres. It was a shame I couldn't make use of my new lyre as I'd printed off the music from the website in a lyre size ready!

Two tutors, one of whom I knew from the week, led us through the music. It was a difficult job for them, trying to pitch it at the right level with such a variety of standards in the room.

We were then introduced to the composer of the music, who listened to the piece being played through with a rather interesting expression on her face. It sounded so strange and extremely loud, being played by such a large group, playing very loudly in a room with a very high ceiling making it so resonant.

It was then a short wait until it was time to go and perform out on the steps at the front of the Royal Albert Hall. Without really thinking about exactly how it was going to work, I assumed it would be on the other side of the hall, by the statue on the other side! But of course it made sense to be on the quieter side right next to the college where we'd just come from.

There was a large crowd of people with cameras and video cameras assembled around the microphones of the BBC soundmen. It took a while for the conductor to realise that of course nobody could see him because the surface was level. So it then took some more time to get a large box (like the one used for the conductors in the Royal Albert Hall) from inside the college across the road and up the steps to the area we were playing in.

It all seemed to sound as it should have done, whether that was a nice sound or not… It was however quite windy outside so the music which was pinned on to the shirt in front of us kept blowing around! It was especially difficult for those of us with large instruments because we couldn't easily just hold it down.

After the music was complete, we had to hold still for a number of photographs, including one with everybody holding their instruments in the air. This again was difficult for the large instruments!

We could then take our instruments inside and collect our kit and leave. Everybody from the youth band went their own ways for lunch. There was however the problem of instruments and where everyone else should leave them. I left mine in the Royal College of Music where we had to meet to warm up before our Prom but the others had to take theirs into a cloak room in the Albert Hall. But every instrument has to be checked (for bombs of course…) before they were allowed in. With two men doing these checks for the hundreds of people, this took a very long time! I went on my own to a shop a had seen on a previous day near the tube station because most other people had brought their own lunch. Of course, I hadn't been home for days so didn't have chance to get my packed lunch made by my Mum…!

We then went in for the concert from Black Dyke and Grimethorpe. It was strange going in as a customer through the main entrance and seeing other people all so excited about going into the hall where I'd been lucky enough to spend so much time that week. Even so, I certainly wasn't numb from the experience when the bands started playing, it still was amazing!

The time went so quickly and I heard playing like I've never heard before. The balance, tone, difficult and atmosphere was amazing. It was so good, I even forgot for a little while how little room I had in the seats!

It was a perfect length too, giving us just enough time to get across to the Royal College of Music in time for our warm up. It was all very relaxed and some of the players in our piece had just come from playing with Grimethorpe and Black Dyke too.

After an improvised warm up and quite a long talk through of events from the team, we went across to get into our dressing room. There was an immense amount of hanging around for most of us in the dressing room, getting nervous at times but mostly trying to soak in as much as possible of the occasion and the once in a life time experience of being a performer at the Royal Albert Hall.

We were dressed and ready, with our black clothes on and the very cheaply designed and implemented white tape stripes on our arms…

As the concert started, we took are seats in the auditorium, in the very best seats possible, right on the edge of the stage so we could see and hear every detail.

Of course it was then our turn to perform. We got into our positions at the beginning of the second half of the concert. When our piece started, it was a strange feeling. The acoustic really did feel very different with so many people in the building with us. I felt I could hear myself a lot more clearly but not hear everybody else as well. I did feel very nervous, especially in some exposed sections but I think I pulled it off! The most difficult was removing my practice mute near the beginning of the piece because it had a tendency to squeak very loudly because of the ‘corks' which weren't cork rubbing on my moisture covered bell of the instrument. I managed to take it out very very slowly and dead on a short accent so any noise would be hidden.

It all went so quickly! I concentrated harder than I ever had before and I think it all came together. Once it was over we sat in our seats and stayed there for the rest of the concert. It was unlucky that my family's seats were almost directly above where we were stood when we played so I doubt they could see much, if at all!

There were a lot of quite difficult goodbyes at the end, Meike and Sam especially. We swapped email addresses so that we could stay in contact but I knew it was unlikely we'd ever meet up again, but who knows…

There was money put behind the bar for afterwards for the performers but I had to get going, it was a long drive home and people were waiting for me. I slept like a log in the car, even though it was very squashed with 5 adults!

I was sad the week was over but so proud, and glad that I took the opportunity to apply in the first place. I wish I could play in the Royal Albert Hall again in the future, in a slightly smaller group(!), maybe I will, who knows…