Preparations are going well for my recital at London's Wigmore Hall on 17 April at 1pm. If you live near London, I hope you might come along. I can't remember if I've told this story before, but I can't track it down in a previous blog post, so here it is, with...
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I've been reading An Angel at my Table, the autobiography of New Zealand writer Janet Frame. It's an unusual and absorbing read. Janet Frame grew up without much access to music, but when she first came across classical music she loved it. Gradually she gathered some...
Tickets have just gone on sale for my lunchtime recital at Wigmore Hall in London on Friday April 17. Click here for booking information. As you'll read on the Wigmore Hall website, the concert marks the publication of my book on the history of the nocturne. To give a...
Yesterday I spoke about my book 'Sleeping in Temples' at the Wigtown Book Festival (see photo), a merry gathering in 'Scotland's Book Town' in the rolling hills of Dumfries and Galloway. Arriving there for the first time in driving rain and wind wasn't the perfect...
I'm back from the 26th annual festival of the Gaudier Ensemble in Dorset. Over the years this gathering of chamber music specialists from around Europe has come to feel quite special. As our lives have become increasingly complicated, it feels remarkable that each...
On Tuesday the Guardian had an article about the growing number of stand-up comedians who bring a 'work in progress' to the Edinburgh Fringe instead of a fully-developed show. During their run, which could be anything up to three weeks, they 'develop' the show, which...
On a night when the brilliant Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov was playing at the Usher Hall as part of the Edinburgh Festival, it was not to be expected that any piano fans would still be available to come to the Edinburgh Book Festival to hear my talk, which clashed...
I haven't written much recently because I seem to have turned into a 'news junkie' following the UK's vote to Brexit. I did write a blog post about Brexit, but it attracted no responses so I went back to reading newspapers and law blogs. Many other music organisations...
Recently I've had to memorise various piano pieces by Schubert. I find his music unusually hard to memorise, for a reason that throws light on why it is so profoundly satisfying. Composers often use themes or musical material which they bring back later in the piece....
Two recent topics of conversation have come together in my mind to prompt a question. Topic 1: the number of classical concert reviews is shrinking rapidly. Everyone in the profession has noticed it. Many newspapers are reducing the number of classical reviews they...
BBC Young Musician came to a close last night with the wonderful young cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason being declared the winner after his remarkably mature and thoughtful performance of Shostakovich's first cello concerto. His charming, modest response on being asked how...
BBC Young Musician is underway on BBC4, and once again the talent and accomplishment of the young players is absolutely admirable. To watch and listen to them is inspiring and gives one great hope for the next generation of classical musicians. Having said that, I am...
It's just a week now until my Queen's Hall solo recital on 25 April at 7.30pm. The programme is called 'Pioneers of the Piano' and celebrates some of the composers who wrote in new ways for the piano, or showed it in a different light. I played the programme at...
In my travels as a guest tutor I come across post-grad and young professional musicians from lots of different countries. For some time now I've made it a habit to ask them how they're getting on with making their way in the classical music profession - easy or...
A young musician announced to me recently that the problem of classical music's dwindling audiences would be solved by moving concerts into exciting new locations not associated with classical performance. For example, she mentioned the MultiStory project, an...