Our bathtime bellowers came to sing like angels

The fluctuation Association, based in Villetoureix, near Riberac in the North Dordogne, was formed in Sep 2006 after some expats staged a quintessentially British show - Old Time Music Hall - in the town as a fund-raising venture for the chaplainship of Aquitania.

Its aim is to provide music and drama chance for all who wanted to take part. Laminitis members included Alison Chew, the electric current president and musical comedy director, electric current treasurer Pat Henry Watson Fowler and Claudette Corman, our most loyalist French member. My wife and I joined shortly after our reaching three years ago.

A more recent recruit was Polly Falvey, a classically trained two-base hit bass participant, who has been one of the prime movers behind the latest project.

She was taught by Keith Smith - a independent conductor based in the UK who has a vacation home in the Dordogne - and raised the idea with him of an orchestra composed of professional person and semi-professional musicians from United Kingdom touring the area.

The consequence was the 25-strong Hampshire Sinfonietta, which will give a series of concerts culminating in a public presentation of Vivaldi's Gloria accompanied by the fluctuation Ensemble Vocal in La Collegiale (a former church, now an arts centre) in Riberac on Aug 30.

Here's where things got busy. We were very keen to involve the local French community and recruited hard on local radio and in the press. And this time we made no judicial admission that prospective singers had to have experience; singing in the bath or shower qualified them, as long as they had enthusiasm.

An open meeting was held and over 60 people attended. I had been mischievously told on many occasions by my fellow Britons that the French attitude was very much "can't sing, won't sing" - the same stereotype that insists they all eat frogs' legs and snails, and that all Englishmen wear bowler hats and carry umbrellas.

But Variations has always had French members and once again such preconceptions were turned on their head. We recruited three new French singers plus expats to swell our original Chorale of 16 to 45.

Then came the really hard part. Many new members had never sung in a choir before, a few had but only when they were children and the others had indeed only sung in the bath. But all were willing to give it a go.

We arranged for an extra weekly rehearsal for the beginners at Polly's home. The Gloria is challenging but the beginners came on well.

When the two groups combined for the first time at the end of April the sound was a pleasant surprise. Alison, who has worked ceaselessly directing the choir, had produced learning CDs which people had obviously spent time with, beginning or renewing their acquaintance with Vivaldi.

Because of the extra numbers, Wednesday rehearsals were moved to the salle de fête at St Martin de Riberac where yet again we received nothing but help from the local authorities, the mairie generously letting us rehearse free of charge.

Then came "Le Crunch" - May 14, when conductor Keith came over from England to lead a full rehearsal. It was intense, yet fun and all stayed on board.

He praised us for the work we had put in and told us how excited he was by the performance. At the end of June he returned to conduct us again and this time compared our efforts with some professional choirs he had worked with in England.

We were very pleased - especially after a few glasses of wine, which we consider a civilised aid to rehearsal.

Of course there's still a lot of hard work to be done, but we're looking forward to the challenge, and showing the Hampshire Sinfonietta some traditional Dordogne hospitality; all in the cause of the entente musicale.

The orchestra will be performing two other concerts, in Limeuil on August 27 and Champagne Fontaine on August 29.

Tickets for the Gloria concert on August 30 and the orchestral concert on August 29 from Centre Culturel de Riberac or by calling +33 553 906203. For the Limeuil concert call +33 553 633890. To join The Variations Association email: teresarekowska@yahoo.co.uk