I was away at the time of BBC Young Musician but have been catching up with the final instalments. As usual, I was tremendously impressed with the standard of playing in every instrumental category. Really, did my colleagues and I play as well as that when we were their age? I doubt it. Each time […]

This week I’m preparing for the last of my lecture-recital series in The Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh. On Saturday afternoon I’ll be speaking about – and performing – Schubert’s late A major piano sonata, one of the masterpieces of his last year. These lecture-recitals have brought out a different sort of audience, perhaps one which […]

We’re in the grip of bitter winter weather. For several days it’s felt as if the country has  ground to a halt while ‘The Beast from the East’ roars around us. My inbox is full of mail from fellow free-lancers who, like me, have had concerts cancelled because of the snow and the dangerous travel […]

Winterplay – Beethoven concert, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh ‘The dark days of February have been indelibly brightened by Winterplay, a new weekend chamber music festival curated by pianist Susan Tomes. With workshops for children and concerts featuring teenage talent and internationally acclaimed musicians, the festival aims to encourage more people to play, and listen to, chamber […]

It’s just ten days now until the Winterplay mini-festival of chamber music in the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh. My tally of organisational emails has probably doubled since I last reported that I had written 568 emails relating to the festival – and of course I was only able to search for the ones that contained […]