Last night I did an ‘author event’ – the first in-person event of this year – at Toppings Bookshop in Edinburgh. This bookshop, fairly new to Edinburgh, has been beautifully designed around the many interestingly-shaped rooms of the historic building. Curved wooden bookcases follow the line of the curved walls. Rolling library ladders enable you […]

I recently recorded a 30-minute podcast for BBC History magazine – talking to interviewer Ellie Cawthorne about my new book, ‘The Piano – a History in 100 Pieces‘. The podcast is now available by clicking on this link: https://www.historyextra.com/period/21st-century/piano-musical-history-podcast-susan-tomes/ You don’t need headphones or special equipment to listen to it – if you’re sitting at […]

I’ve been watching the Euro 2020 football matches on TV – to the surprise of some of my friends. But I find that things are always interesting once you start to know a bit about them, and as there is so much coverage of the championship, it makes sense to take an interest. As I […]

Last week I followed the Cardiff Singer of the World competition on TV with great enjoyment through all the rounds. I was so impressed with these singers who, despite a year of lockdown and no opportunities to sing to live audiences, were able to come out and perform so generously to a hall empty of […]

My new book The Piano – a History in 100 Pieces comes out in July and I’ll be marking its launch with a concert on 23 July at Wigmore Hall, for a long time my favourite concert hall. The programme is drawn from pieces discussed in the book (the photo on the right gives a […]