Shelley - I was a quiet singer. I used to just about whisper in tune.

Ask Willa how loud I am now.

It was all down to a teacher called Sonia Hewitt - who most of the time was a complete bitch, but she once said to me that although I had the loudest voice in the class, I sang like a startled rabbit, and I should try and deafen her. Ever see 'Sister Act' where Whoopi Goldberg turns a whispering nun into Tina Turner? It was a bit like that, and yes, I deafened her. That was when I was 8.

I've never been told I can't sing, just that I didn't sing loudly.

One thing that really did insult me though, was after nearly 30 years singing in various choirs, to be told by the musical director of my church that 'we've got lots of new stuff, how about you sit this one out seeing as you didn't make (an unadvertised) practice'. It may have been new to him, but I'd seen most of it at least once or twice before and was singing some of it before he'd started school.

Makes me even more proud of the fact that I sight read 2 choral pieces I'd never seen or heard before, and was considered good enough to sing in St Martin in the Fields, from cold to concert, in 3 weeks.

LTS