for anxiety until he picked it up and learned that a fellow Bermudian, Jonathan Trott, owner of Spanish Town Productions, wanted him to be the musical director of a major show Mr. Trott hoped to produce in Hamilton on New Year's night.

"We're old friends who go back a long way, and we have worked together, but I said no because I knew what being Musical Director entailed, and I didn't have the time,'' Mr. Swan remembers. "I knew the stress, and I even had the feeling as I was speaking to him, but Jonathan has a certain way of talking me into things. He had this idea and he wanted me to be involved, so finally I said yes.'' Some time would pass before the second call came with Mr. Trott's elated words, "It's happening''. Thus it was that Kingsley Swan and his lovely wife Suzanne found themselves back in Bermuda on December 4, 1999 preparing for what turned out to be an outstanding extravaganza of local talent.

Staying at his mother's Glebe Road, Pembroke home, Mr. Swan immediately got down to work -- writing chord charts for the show band's rhythm section, memorising all of the music for the five-hour-plus programme, and much, much more.

The task was huge, and until January 1 he hardly left the house, usually working far into the night, and often falling asleep on the settee.

And those were just some aspects. In addition, he had to learn his own singing and playing roles for the Ike and Tina Turner duet with Suzanne, as well as his solo sequence of Talbot Brothers songs.

None of which included the almost daily band rehearsals to direct, even on Christmas eve.

How, one wondered, did he do it all? "We prayed at every rehearsal, and especially at the final three,'' Mr. Swan smiles, before going on, with characteristic modesty, to spread the credit around.

"Everybody was great,'' he insists, "but the one musician I owe credit to was the other guitar player, Albert Joell. He was one of those guys who helped to make the job easy for me because he just did his homework. In fact, the very last thing I said to him was how much I appreciated the effort he personally put into not only his part but also to helping others.'' Mr. Swan also mentions the assistant musical director Robert Edwards, who came to his rescue on some of the charts for the musicians, and also took some of the earlier rehearsals; his friend Jonathan "who had the vision and the confidence'' to believe that Bermuda contained all the talent necessary to produce a high-calibre show; and the Corporation of Hamilton -- "and especially its Secretary, Roger Sherratt, -- for entrusting the whole concept to Jonathan''.

That the show, backed by an 11-strong band, with almost 30 performers recreating the hits of some 44 world-famous artists, held the capacity crowd in thrall for over five hours and left them begging for more would seem to be the finest of tributes to all those involved, and certainly Mr. Swan remains pleased with the final outcome, but he also admits that, behind the scenes, there were some very anxious moments for both himself and Mr. Trott.

"We all prayed that night,'' he says. "Jonathan and his crew didn't sleep because they did the show in St. George's. After they broke down the equipment there they went straight to Hamilton to continue setting up things in the City Hall car park.

"When I spoke to Jonathan just before the show began, he talked about how tired he was, and said he wasn't sure he was going to make it,'' Mr. Swan relates. "I said, `We've come too far now,' so we had some final prayers, and while there were some glitches, we were excited that everything flowed so well.'' A night to remember Indeed, it was the same loyalty to his friend's vision and ideals that also drove Mr. Swan and the band from the very beginning.

"There were no egos,'' he says. "I said to the men, `We have to do our best for Jonathan because he's sticking his neck out on this'.'' And so they did. In fact, both Mr. Swan and his wife remain delighted with the overall response to the show.

"The sense of camaraderie was what made it,'' Mrs. Swan enthuses. "The whole thing was very professionally approached, and it was a wonderful experience.

You could just feel the energy of the people out there.'' No doubt recalling the early days of their professional careers, the couple remain particularly impressed with the talents of the two youngest vocalists, Sia Spence and Clive Francis.

"We want to give the highest praise to them,'' Mrs. Swan enthuses. "Clive had the 'flu until a few days before the concert, and he had never done any Michael Jackson material before.'' Indeed, Mr. Swan hopes that the Corporation's Milleniafest Salute to the Stars of the Century concert will serve as an inspiration to youngsters.

"I think it will give the impetus to young people who have talent (to know) that there will be a place for them. People are disillusioned about what they can do with their musical talent.'' And does he think there will be future concerts of a similar nature? "This is just the beginning,'' he promises.