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By Jon

We've been rehearsing 'Flicker' for a couple of days with the full orchestra, the singers, conductor Andrew Gourlay. The RHN have allowed us to rehearse at the hospital, in their wonderful Assembly Room; the patients and staff have been dropping in out of the rehearsals all week, and it feels as if our work's become a real feature of life here, if only for a while – it's lovely to hear the singers' voices echoing down the long Victorian corridors.

After a small crisis occasioned by the delivery of an F-sharp crotale rather than an F-natural one, it's thrilling to hear the piece come to life with such terrific performers. Everyone's working extremely hard, from Andrew's meticulous work on the score, to Will's marshalling of his small army of laptops as he develops the video projections, to Loren's beautifully controlled performance as the 'real' Iris, while Poppy zooms on and off the stage giving directing notes whenever Andrew stops the musicians. The hospital have incredibly generously lent us a bed and wheelchair, which they've custom-fitted with a light-writer for us, which makes a huge difference to the realism of what we're presenting.

I'm still making a few final changes to the score (now I've heard it played live), but really just minor adjustments to the orchestration; overall I'm very pleased with how it's sounding, and as always am overwhelmed by the privilege of having my music played by wonderful musicians. I think we're all feeling quite confident about the performance at Sadler's Wells now, and we're really looking forward to putting the piece in front of a live audience – tomorrow!