I have just used the term Red Letter Day on my Facebook account to announce the fact that my new style website goes live today. After I pressed send I realised that I did not truly know why we use the term. So I looked it up and found to my surprise that it has a very interesting history. According to … Read More
How to Build a Great Venue
As I prepare to perform Bela Bartók’s Concerto for two pianos and percussion with my esteemed colleagues Janet Fulton, Noriko Ogawa and Philip Smith I am reminded of the time when I performed this piece with Sir Georg Solti. This video clip is a documentary of a very early performance of the Bartók with Sir Georg, older video’s like this … Read More
Letter to Santa
When I was a child I wanted a musical instrument for Christmas. Now I am an adult I would like every child to have the opportunity to play and hopefully enjoy music regardless of culture, ability, crede or social circumstances. Have a look at all the things I get up to on my YouTube channel. So please Santa do your best despite the … Read More
What picture is my body painting?
In response to a question from Lisa in Sweden who mentioned that she is currently doing a photo documentary project at a church involving many shoots of musicians and also listeners attending the services and events. Lisa said “If you have any thoughts on how to really show the making of music and the act of listening in photography I’d … Read More
How Would You Perform?
I am just standing in a queue at Heathrow airport waiting for my flight to Lausanne, Switzerland where I will be performing at the Salle Métropole. On this occasion I will be performing the world première of Cosmos by Jean-Luc Darbellay. As I wait my turn I think about the journey I have taken so many times to reach this … Read More
Living in a Nursery Rhyme
In a nonsensical way how often do you have a day or two when you feel as if you are in another dimension. Somehow you have wandered inadvertently into a cartoon or rhyme where nothing makes sense at the time or that you are seeing events around you but you are not participating in the traditional sense. During a recent … Read More
Cosmos
My favourite book is a dictionary; I always have one to hand. I dip in and out of it like a box of chocolates eager to read the description of a new word or even an old favourite. As you know the new piece I am currently working on is titled Cosmos and as I interpret the composer’s notes I … Read More
And another first for me…
I am dipping my toe into this enormous cavern of words, which most of you know well. However for me it is something very new, exciting and just a little bit scary. I want to be good at blogging in the same way that I strive to be good at music and sound creation. My normal tools are a wonderful … Read More