Lovely Konstellation concert in Brighton’s serene Chapel Royal, continuing this year’s tour of ‘Auf dem Strom’, a programme of music for tenor, horn and piano. What a beautiful venue to revisit, this time performing Beethoven’s horn sonata with Francesca Moore-Bridger and An die ferne Geliebte with Peter Davoren, as well as Schubert’s eponymous Auf dem Strom. This programme next appears at the opposite end of the country, in Dumfries in October.
Very excited to announce that I will be taking on the role of Head of Keyboard at Eton College from September 2014. This is a wonderful way of building on the teaching and accompanying that I have been doing there for the last seven years, and I look forward to getting stuck in!
This new course for singers, run with director Joe Austin, has proved a highly successful new venture. A small group of singers convened in Somerset for a few days of intensive acting and music coaching, drawing together different aspects of the art of singing opera, and with an informal local performance giving them a chance to try out some of their new ideas. What with superb hospitality, delicious food, and a beautiful remote location, this seems to have been a winning formula!
Back from a triumphant second chamber music course run in Somerset by the Berkeley Ensemble. We had a lovely group of string players, wind players and pianists to coach, working on repertoire from Mozart to Dunhill. We spent time exploring all aspects of chamber music playing, as well as running sessions on freedom in performance, learning how to listen, and improvisation, plus fitting in some solo lessons. A packed few days, and a great time was had by all! Details for next year's course will be announced shortly on www.berkeleyensemble.co.uk.
Pleased to be asked to speak at this year's SongArt conference, Singing from the Piano: a symposium examining how pianists interpret text and the piano in song performance. Details of this event and the SongArt Performance Research Group can be found on www.songart.co.uk.
A busy last month of recitals: Rachmaninov and Beethoven sonatas with Cara Berridge (cello); Bridge Phantasy Quartet and music by Britten and Elgar with the Berkeley Ensemble; Winterreise with Marcus Farnsworth (baritone); a programme of English and French music with James Turnbull (oboe); songs from Howells to Brahms to Poulenc with Carris Jones (mezzo-soprano); Bach and Brahms sonatas with Alexandra Reid (violin)….. Next up, a programme of clarinet trios with the Berkeley Ensemble, and a Konstellation programme for tenor, horn and piano.
Very enjoyable to have given performance masterclasses to music students at both Bristol and Canterbury Christ Church universities in the last few weeks, as well as at Solihull School. It's always such a pleasure to work with interested, able, and promising students! Looking forward to working with the students at Oxford next.
Do take a look at this new course for singers www.joeaustin.co.uk/old-rectory-opera-course and spread the word! Director Joe Austin and I have worked together at Ryedale Festival Opera and on various projects for McCaldin Arts, and are looking forward to this chance to encourage singers to escape day-to-day life for an intensive operatic retreat in Somerset!
January may not be the obvious time to want to spend a week working on Christmas carols, but the last few days as producer for Norwich Cathedral Choir’s Christmas carols CD on Priory Records have been a delight, with hugely impressive singing, under the baton of Ashley Grote. Look out for the finished product next Christmas.
Looking forward to returning to the Wigmore on Monday 3rd February, having stepped in for a programme of song ranging from Purcell to Debussy to Britten to Messiaen, with soprano Laurie Ashworth.