The Sixteen Violin and Cornett player Theresa talks aeroplane drama, demanding repertoire and Pierce Brosnan

What is your favourite Sixteen anecdote?
Stopping an aeroplane from taking off at Madrid airport some years ago! Sitting in a window seat, I saw the baggage handlers give up trying to get the double bass into the hold and start to take it away, so I stood up in the aisle and encouraged several others to do the same so we couldn’t take off without the bass. Miraculously, within a few minutes the problem was solved, the bass was loaded and we sat down again for take-off.  Nowadays I expect we would have been hauled off the plane and arrested!

What do you do to relax in your spare time?
Walking, yoga, reading, falling asleep in front of the TV.

If you could perform in any venue, what / where would it be?
Monteverdi’s Vespers in St. Mark’s, Venice or Purcell anthems in Westminster Abbey – and I’ve been lucky enough to have done both.

Is there a piece you have fallen in love with since performing it with The Sixteen?
Handel’s Jephtha.

What has been the most challenging piece of music you have ever performed?
A piece of Maurizio Kagel on the cornett for a German radio recording – complete with flutter-tonguing and all sorts of other techniques which are not usually part of a cornett player’s vocabulary.

Does anyone in The Sixteen have any annoying or unusual habits?! If so, what is it?
If they did, I wouldn’t dream of divulging them……

Do you have a party trick and if so, what is it?!
Standing on my head.

Who were you, or would you be nervous to meet?
Pierce Brosnan – that’s a would be……

What do you think you would be doing if you weren’t a musician?
Breeding donkeys.

What would your ultimate desert island disc be?
Bach’s B minor Mass.

What would you eat for your last supper?
Oysters, fillet steak and lemon posset.

And the obligatory question…What football team do you support?!
Sorry, I don’t!