Just in case anyone is thinking that I lead a glamorous life let me describe it as it really is! Last Friday I returned around lunchtime to my home in Cambridgeshire from performing with Maria Rud, Philip Sheppard and Canty at the National Museum of Scotland. We collaborated on a brand new project titled AniMotion which combined art with music. … Read More
Poetry in Motion
East is east and west is west – so that say and next week I will be heading Eastward to perform in Peking with the Nürnberger Symphoniker as part of the Festival of Beijing. For me the colours in China represent a poetic feast for the eyes. Each time I visit I feel the vibration of colours surrounding me and I … Read More
The (not so blue) Danube
I recently visited the beautiful city of Linz in Austria to give a motivational speech on for delegates attending the ICCHP conference. Whilst I enjoyed my supper one evening on the terrace overlooking the famous Danube River I reflected on the fact that due to heavy rain the river was flowing very fast and looked decidedly muddy and brown, not … Read More
Sunshine
I am off today to perform with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra at the Concert Hall in Singapore. I have been back and forth to Asia for several trips over the years and it is always exciting. On this occasion I will be performing Yiu-Kwong Chung’s Concerto for Percussion and Traditional Chinese Orchestra and “The Sun” from The New Millennium of the … Read More
Where have all the emails gone?
Once again I am standing in airport queue waiting for hours to be ‘processed’ and assessed for security risks. As I stand slightly shifting from leg to leg to avoid getting too stiff from inactivity, all kinds of thoughts begin to go through my mind. Is there an art of queueing? Are certain nations better at queueing than others? Is … 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
What Pops Your Cork?
It is a glorious day here in Cork, Ireland. The sun is shining and I am feeling great! I hope you are experiencing this wonderful weather so late in November and that you are able to feel the warmth of the sunshine on your face before it disappears for the day. Corcaigh (the Irish spelling for Cork) is thought to be … Read More