This term, I’ve been teaching a course at the wonderful institution that is City Lit entitled ‘What is Music?’. Across ten weeks, our class has been covering a range of topics around the development and perception and music from the creation of the earliest instruments to notation, tuning, the kind
Maybe it’s because I’ve had two lovely trips to Bath this week (once to judge for the Mid-Somerset Festival, once to take part in Bath MozartFest), but Jane Austen has rather been on my mind. Not so much the feisty heroines like Lizzie Bennett, or the well-meaning interferers like Emma
Now that the autumn term is nearly halfway gone, I’ve been having discussions with a number of my university students about their major writing projects – independent essays and dissertations which will run until the end of the academic year as part of their final year submissions. Although they’re still
I took my driving test this week. Having taken lessons over the summer, and felt as if progress was being made, and my wonderful driving instructor being happy, we got the test booked in, and organised, a few weeks before, a mock exam. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said as we did
This week, a classical music round-up email informed me a few days ago, the streaming service Grammofy is to shut down due to the financial difficulties of keeping its product – which was a set-up which sought to be ‘fair and respectful of the content and its creators’ – afloat.
It’s that season when I’m forced to admit that I am, in fact, a whole year older than I was last year. The good news, however, is that this is an excuse for cake, lovely company and presents, and I was fortunate enough to enjoy all three this October. One
Last weekend, full of excitement (and quite a lot of penny sweets, I’ll be honest), I spent an evening in Hammersmith attending a conversation between Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Matt Dillahunty with the rather wonderful title, ‘A Celebration of Science and Reason’. Dawkins, I suspect, will be the name
A few months ago, and quite by accident, I discovered the existence of the Angry Chef. Anthony Warner, who has recently published a book in addition to his excellent blog, is a brilliantly funny, eloquent and – when it’s called for – furious critic of fad diets, pseudoscience and the
It is just possible, having recently returned from a holiday by the crystal-blue waters of Croatia, that I am going to regret the decision to wade into the murky waters of the Great Front Row Debate this afternoon. And since I am one of those weirdos you occasionally read about
Last night, I got home from this year’s Annual Conference of the Royal Musical Association. The RMA has been running since 1874 as an organisation which was founded ‘for the investigation and discussion of subjects connected with the art and science of music;’ and from occasional meetings of distinguished gentlemen
