I’m preparing lots of music for a trip next week to the Lofoten Islands of Norway, inside the Arctic Circle. Their summer festival of chamber music is already established as a rather special event in the calendar, and their new winter festival is an intriguing experiment in which I am one of the guinea pigs […]

I’ve been in Scotland, giving a talk and masterclass at the Edinburgh Society of Musicians, founded in 1887. Their meetings take place in an fascinating house now shared by several of the city’s musical societies. The house was built in the late 19th century, and its recital room is hung with portraits of 19th- and 20th-century […]

To Evensong at King’s College, Cambridge. At this time of year it is quite dark when the service begins at 5.30pm. As the sound of the choir floats upwards, it seems to draw the eye up to the beautiful fan vaulting (see photo). I never get tired of hearing how subtly the long resonance dies […]

Today’s Glasgow Herald has an article about the Scottish International Piano Competition, which starts next week in Glasgow. I’m  on the competition jury. The board of the competition have made some wise and welcome changes to the requirements, which we all hope will encourage well-rounded and deep-thinking musicians to apply. The finals are now divided into […]

I was in Italy last week and was lucky enough to be in Siena on the day the fragile mosaics of the cathedral floor were uncovered, as they are each summer for a short period. My photo shows one of the central mosaics, King David who was also a musician. The cathedral was full of […]