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 […]

I’m back from chairing the jury at CIMCL, the Lyon International Chamber Music Competition. It was won by the Trio Messiaen from Paris, who swept the board with almost all of the available prizes. In 2nd place was the Trio Hélios, also from Paris, and in 3rd place was the Trio Mosa, who live in […]

Over the last few days I have been checking the proofs of my new book, Speaking the Piano, due out in June from Boydell Press (see photo). Before we got to this point, there have been several other stages of editing. Various friends read the manuscript and gave their advice. My editor at Boydell sent […]

Just a month now until Winterplay, my mini-festival of chamber music in the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh. The weekend of six events is designed to bring in listeners of all ages. We start on the morning of 10 Feb with a children’s ‘music and movement’ workshop run by Dalcroze expert Monica Wilkinson, who will lead […]

I’ve been reading ‘Tales and Travels of a School Inspector‘ by John Wilson, an account of travelling round the Highlands and Islands of Scotland in the Victorian era, in the years after the groundbreaking 1872 Education Act which gave every child between the ages of 5 and 10 the right to schooling. If the children […]