Apologies to those people who have applied recently and not yet received an acknowledgement in return.   I (Simon) am away singing this week and am unable to access the application email account and process your applications due to a very weak and intermittent wi-fi signal.   I will be back home this weekend (25/26 Aug) and will catch up with all the stuff then.   Once again, sorry for the delay.

We now have a full complement of soloists. Biogs and mugshots to follow.

Ives: Ed Goble

Rutter: Emily Wenman

Verdi: Josie Goddard, Beth Moxon, Andrew Henley, Ed Danon

It is great to have them on board; again, in the case of Beth.

A schedule for the day has now been added to the website.

Things are progressing nicely, we have had just over a hundred applications so far. We have room for another hundred participants, so spread the word. We are especially looking for more basses at the moment. Currently tenors outnumber basses by three to one!

On the soloist front, Beth Moxon is returning this year to sing the Verdi. We have Ed Goble singing the tenor solo in the Ives, having sung it in the premiere of the piece I believe.

Donations on the JustGiving site are ticking over nicely but it would great to see more. If you are taking part, nudge friends and family to see if you can entice them to support you in this event

The repertoire and most of the musical staff have been confirmed. I am missing one accompanist at the moment but hope to have that post filled soon. So here goes:

• Anthem. The 2018 anthem will be written by Will Todd.
• First - Grayston Ives Requiem. Conductor Jeremy Jackman.
• Second - Rutter Requiem. Conductor Bob Porter accompanied by Simon Gregory.
• Third - Verdi Requiem. Conductor Neil Ferris accompanied by Michael Higgins.

There will of course be the early morning runthrough of the Fauré Requiem again, for a bit of light relief.
Really happy to see so many of the staff returning. It would have been a full complement but for previous engagements. Similarly, I hope to see a lot of familiar faces in the choir.

I am happy to announce that a new look to the website will be appearing soon. Its going live will coincide with applications opening. It is my hope that this will happen in time for the upcoming Bank Holiday. My thanks to Bruno Lasnier for the great work he has done on this.

OUP have included 'Now is the Time' on their Choral Highlights 2017 promotional CD. Thanks to Justin Eeles for posting it on the Requiem To Cancer Facebook page. If you missed it or are not following the page, here is the link: www.facebook.com/requiemtocancer/inbox/1440797352671577/?notif_t=page_wall&notif_id=1503092066087441&selected_item_id=1440797352671577

I have just gone live with the 2018 JustGiving Page, see www.justgiving.com/fundraising/requiemtocancer2018. This time I have set the target at £40000. I would be happy to exceed that target!

I have dates and venue for Requiem To Cancer 2018. Get them in your diary before you do something silly like double booking yourself.

​The 2018 event will take place on 14th - 15th September 2018 at St Paul's, Covent Garden. That is all that is confirmed at present. I can give no details of musical staff or repertoire at present as no such decisions have been made. However, as soon as such decisions have been made they will appear in the blog and in the relevant places on the website.

I am thrilled and happy that St Paul's are happy to have us back, the support and enthusiasm they had for the project made my job before and on the day so much easier.

The Cecilia McDowall Anthem 'Now is the Time' is soon to be published by OUP. See global.oup.com/academic/product/now-is-the-time-9780193512603?q=Cecilia%20mcdowall&lang=en&cc=gb

I should remind you that although you are allowed to keep the copy of 'Now is the Time' given to you on the day, the license for it expires once it has been published. If you wish to perform it once it has been published you will have to purchase an official copy from OUP. You are not required to destroy your copy from the day.