I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that I am a deeply old-fashioned kind of person. This is, I realise, a rather ironic statement with which to begin a blog post, brought to you all via social media – the power of a democratised means of publishing which has so
Last Tuesday, I was delighted to be in attendance at the event Music into Words organised by Cross-Eyed Pianist blogger, Frances Wilson. The event was intended to give participants an opportunity to discuss writing about music in all its forms, and a panel of authors had the opportunity to talk
This week, for the first time since going freelance, I’ve been ill. Actually, properly, basically asleep or at best conscious and horizontal ill. It only involved two days off, in the end: one not to move at all, and one to manage a rehearsal at home, some emails, and a
One of the things I enjoy most about my freelancing lifestyle is the sheer variety of repertoire that I’m able to engage with on a week-to-week basis. I might be teaching Schubert Lieder in one place; late nineteenth-century chamber music somewhere else; write programme notes on the music of James
It’s been a pretty busy time since the year began and the 2016 Adventure got underway. Or more precisely, it’s been a pretty busy time since Monday, when I returned from a week’s holiday by the sea. Since I got back, the new term has begun, teaching and marking have
Well, it’s a brand shiny new year once again, and although Santa sadly failed to deliver the helicopter, chocolate Albert Hall, and so on, Christmas was pretty great and a much-needed chance to relax. As the fireworks went off at not-quite-midnight on 1st January, I stood with friends and discussed our
Dear Santa, It’s been a while – hope the reindeer are holding up after all this year’s adverts suggesting you’re travelling by minicab. I’m sure the folks at FIFA have been bothering you about it, too [ed.: Festive Institute of Flying Animals]. Still, at least the whole NSA scandal seems
When I was still at school, my parents introduced me to the work of one of the funniest comedians I have yet discovered: the Danish pianist, Victor Borge. From phonetic punctuation to his re-singing of the entirety of The Magic Flute, Borge had the most superb sense of comic timing,
’Tis the season (well, nearly – I still think the capitalist machine could ease up on the carols for at least another week or two) to be joyful and thankful and kind, and all that stuff. ’Tis also the season, for many musicians, when offers are made of ‘work’ for
As anyone who has the vaguest interest in cinema, DVD collecting, watching the TV or even bus posters will know, superheroes are in. They have been for a while: men of steel, fortuitous victims of nuclear/chemical accidents, test subjects of government projects – heck, even sparkly vampires. They battle the
