Hello, Good-bye: A Tribute to Lady Diana

“How old are you?!” asked Diana Birrell incredulously, as we sat together on the upper level of a British double decker, touring the streets of York. I was in a “new” country, feeling bewildered, and worrying that my mom would be worrying about me. “What’s the equivalent of 911 in England?” I wanted to know. “Where do I lock up my passport, what do I do if I get lost, and is there really blood in this pudding?” I felt these were perfectly valid concerns for a timid traveller, but not Diana had no such qualms. A wee trip to England was just a tiny slice of her very adventurous life.

Diana, you see, had moved thirteen times by the time she was nineteen years old. Her British parents had hauled her around the globe as they moved from one engineering project to the next, punctuated by visits to Lebanon, the Mediterranean, England, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. “They took us to see some pretty stupendous places,” she recalls. I suppose that for someone who experienced Mount Everest by horseback at 4:00 a.m. as a child, a little bus ride in a quaint British town is hardly a major life event. . .

…Except that this little trip to England, decades later, was a major life event for Diana, although she didn’t realize it at the time; for this was a trip with a choir, and a singing trip is an adventure like no other. She signed up as a tourist and returned as a singer, and what a musical ride it turned out to be.

Syd, you see, had arranged for the Peterborough Singers to be the choir-in-residence at York Minster for ten days in July, 2011. Diana signed up without her brother’s knowledge, and when he found out she was coming, he said she might as well learn the music. Unlike Syd, poor Diana was not a classical music fan; in fact, she detested the stuff, preferring the more down-to-earth sounds of blues, soul, R&B, jazz, and Rock & Roll. “I never, ever, ever would listen to Classical Music, ever,” shudders Diana. “I had enough of it growing up, and I would never listen to it on my own, that’s for sure.”

Nor did she have any aspirations about becoming a diva. She scurried out of every rehearsal so Syd wouldn’t have an opportunity to subject her to the dreaded audition, and she learned the music by listening to recordings graciously provided by an electronic device planted strategically in Renee Paul’s bosom. “I probably would have been stuck in frustration if I were singing on my own,” says Diana, but with the support of her fellow choristers, and a few sight-singing classes, she flourished. “Mary Taves convinced me that music is in my being,” she recalls; “I certainly rode on the talent of the rest of the choir,” but “being associated with them as such a success was amazing for me.”

Not that she was eager to expose her newfound voice to Brother Syd when he finally called and invited her to “stop by” with her music. “I just about crapped myself,” recalls Diana. And then, to his delight, she nailed the Bach Magnificat. She went on to sing a whirlwind of masterworks with the choir, including Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Handel’s Messiah, Durufle’s Requiem and Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. She particularly enjoyed the more contemporary February concerts, and is pretty darn ticked that she won’t get to sing in our soul concert next month.

What? Won’t be singing? Whyever not? Well, it seems that Diana is heading west in pursuit of another adventure: she’s returning to her promised land in the Okanagan, there to be reunited with another group of people who have shaped her life in some pretty exciting ways.

You see, when Diana’s parents finally finished transporting her around the world, she took a road trip across Canada with her girlfriends, and fell in love with the Rocky Mountains. She met a bunch of guys who taught her how to glide, and they became like brothers to her. She got herself a drywalling job in Calgary and bought herself a glider. And then, after returning to Ontario briefly to finish up her college degree, she moved to Vernon, BC, and for the first time in her life, felt that she was home: “The neon green grass just glowing in the sunlight, the massive cliffs, the rolling mountains going from green to blue to purple, a glass of sherry on the porch” – this, and the thrill of gliding, just “got into [her] blood.”

It was the James Fund that finally pulled Diana away from her chosen paradise in 2004, when she agreed to come to Peterborough for one year to coordinate fundraising efforts for the fledgling organization. Diana’s work changed the lives of countless victims of neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer that killed her nephew, James (for whom the organization is named). “I promised one year and gave ten.  I pledged to raise $225,000 and together we have brought in over $14.0 Million.” This is a remarkable claim for one woman, but for Diana, the key word is together: “I believe a lot in the power of other people, and this is one job where I get to help people develop that. The sum of the outcome of the James Fund is far, far greater than my contribution; everyone brings their piece into it,” and in the process, the neurblastoma families “have made me into a new person.”

These three groups of people – the James Fund families, the gliding brothers, and the Peterborough Singers community – have offered Diana a sense of significance and belongingness that goes far beyond her individual involvement in each pursuit. In each setting, Diana has taken on challenges that on her own would be impossible to meet, but that, in the company of likeminded people, have surpassed her wildest expectations. Diana reflects that because gliding is a “risky sport,” the people who participate in it form an “immediate bond. . . . People look out for each other as a matter of course” – and the same is true of joining an elite group of singers: “The fact that someone like me, with limited musical technique and background, can be a productive part of something at that level, and contribute to something that great, is pretty remarkable. . . and pretty outrageous!”

“Outrageous”: what a fine word to describe the athletic, philanthropic and artistic challenges to which Diana has risen; and now she’s ready for her next adventure. “I am standing in the hallway of open doors, and the only thing that’s going to hold me back is my own attitude. . . I’m single, unemployed, and open-minded; I can do pretty much anything at this point.” Her biggest worry, as she leaps into her new unknown, is not the prospect of finding work or housing, as it would be for the more mundane folks among us; no, Diana’s most probing question is, “What will I do now that is anything nearly as meaningful as the work I’ve done with the James Fund, and with the level of enjoyment and satisfaction that I’ve had with the Singers? How do I top that?”

Have no fear, Lady Diana. I’m pretty sure that you, of all people, can top anything.

She may not like classical music, but she sure is a Renaissance woman! Check out this “outrageous” list of

THINGS DIANA’S DONE FOR MONEY:

• Fashion model
• Farm worker
• Property manager
• Bank teller
• Drywaller
• Executive director
• Program administrator
• Development coordinator
• Community outreach officer
• Marketing assistant
• Clerk
• Secretary
• Dairy
• Forestry
• Ceramics

at…

• BC Hydro
• Arts Council
• BC Ministry of Environment
• BC Tel
• The James Fund
• Sick Kids’ Foundation
• Okanagan University College
• Municipal government

AND JUST FOR FUN:

• Rotary Club
• Motorsports Club
• Search & Rescue
• Glider Pilot
• Motorcycling
• Sailing
• Scuba diving
• Ski instructor

Whew! No wonder she’s not worried about finding work!

Since I first wrote this story in January of 2015, Diana has made her move! With her permission, here’s her latest update:

Hi Natasha
 
Things are awesome here.  House-sitting for friends who are in Mexico, and visiting with lots of friends.  It’s very mild, we have no snow down in the valley, and people are riding their bicycles in shorts.
 
I have joined the AURA choir under Imant Raminsh and will be singing with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra in the spring BC Choral Festival.  Am part of the United Way Community Investment Committee and have re-certified with Civil Air Search and Rescue Association.  Also helping 2 friends to computerize their businesses.  Also been walking every day and sleeping a lot.
 
I am so sad to have missed the Soul concert.  This is MY music!  It sounds like it was fabulous, so congrats to all of you.

Oh, Diana… I think you’ve got Soul enough for all of us combined, no matter where you are!