Cyprus Mail
A minute withLife & Style

A Minute With Mark Grindall Director of Spellbound women’s acapella chorus, Tala

minute

Where do you live?
I live alone in Kathikas

What did you have for breakfast?
This morning I had toast

Describe your perfect day
My perfect day would be a mid morning coffee in the village coffee shop watching the world go by followed by an afternoon in the garden. The evening would be spent working with the chorus before enjoying a glass of wine with friends, putting the world to rights until the small hours.

Best book ever read?
The best book I have ever read is a very tough question. But after a lot of thought I’ve gone with Soul Music by Terry Pratchett. This was the first book I read by this author and led me to read everything he wrote. The humorous analogies to the music industry made me laugh out loud.

Best childhood memory?
My best childhood memory was singing at the Royal Albert Hall in a performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, directed by Herbert von Karajan. Absolutely amazing experience.

What is always in your fridge?
My fridge will always contain at least one bottle of fizz!

What music are you listening to in the car at the moment?
My car CD player has Deep Purple playing at the moment. I love heavy rock!

What’s your spirit animal?
My spirit animal, if I ever was to have such a thing, would be a Robin. Whenever I’m in the UK and I see one I always think of my grandmother.

What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of my son. I was a single parent and he has turned out pretty well.

What movie scene has really stayed with you?
There is a scene in the movie Mr Destiny where Michael Caine’s character demonstrates the futility of wishing that life’s outcomes, as a result of one pivotal incident, could be changed. It is the best representation of ‘be happy with what you have’ that I have seen.

If you could pick anyone at all (alive or dead) to go out for the evening with, who would it be?
I would love to spend an evening with Stephen Fry. The man’s a genius.

If you could time travel when/where would you go?
If a time travel were possible I would go to Vienna in the 1780s to see Mozart in his prime.

What is your greatest fear?
My greatest fear is heights. I’m ok on a tall building or the edge of a cliff providing I can hold on to something. Otherwise I have this insane urge to throw myself off!

What would you say to your 18-year-old self?
If I could send a message to my 18-year-old self it would be ‘Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. If you don’t try to do something you may well regret that more than failing in the attempt’.

Name the one thing that would stop you dating someone
I could never date someone without a sense of humour.

If the world is ending in 24 hours what would you do?
If the world were ending in 24 hours I would tell my son I loved him and spend the remaining 23 hours and 59 minutes enjoying my supply of wine while listening to Led Zeppelin.

Spellbound sessions start on November 10. For more information visit Spellbound Chorus on Facebook

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