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I’ve been writing this blog since 2009, but there still seem to be plenty of interesting topics to mull over. You can subscribe (it’s free) to follow the blog by email – each new post will pop into your inbox.
Playing music in a cherry tree
An old friend of mine, a fellow musician, wrote to tell me about a lovely dream he had had. He, I and another musician friend were sitting in the branches of a cherry tree playing music together. 'The cherries were the notes!' he said. He didn't say what instrument I...
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Look, no hands
I've been remembering a little conversation which happened years ago when a fellow musician was giving me a lift to the Tube station in London. I was on my way to play a concert. As I was getting out of the car, he said to me: 'Have you got your music?' 'Yes.' 'Have...
Different audiences, different reactions
I have been going to events at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival. There seems to be a lot of overlap between the audiences, because I keep seeing the same faces. It's interesting to observe the effects that different performers have on the audiences. Some performers banter...
Coping with unkind remarks
Since I wrote about attending a masterclass the other day, several people have told me about their own bruising experiences with ‘masters’ who specialised in devastating criticism. Years after the event they could still recall the words with searing clarity: ‘Shall I...
Sunday at Conway Hall
I've promised to help promote the Conway Hall Sunday Concerts, where I'm playing a recital on Sunday 4 December at 6.30pm. Conway Hall (25 Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1) is Europe's longest-running chamber music series, and has been going since 1887. The series...
‘The most dangerous words are whispered’
To King's Place to hear the Hungarian piano professor Ferenc Rados teach a public masterclass for several chamber groups. I know lots of people who have had memorable lessons with Ferenc Rados in recent years, though I myself hadn't seen him since I played to him in...
November sun
To Cambridge for a dinner at my old college. In order to check what I wore last year at this event, I looked up some photos I'd taken at the time (just as well, as I was about to wear the same thing) and was surprised to see how much colder it was last year in...
Perthshire Advertiser review
Lots of people seem to have been interested in the Guardian review, (see previous post), so here's another one of the same concert which appeared yesterday in the the Perthshire Advertiser: 'Since the opening of Perth Concert Hall, last Friday evening's concert was...
Five-star review in today’s Guardian
Blowing my own trumpet, or rather hammering my own Klavier - but it's not so often that one gets a five-star review in the Guardian! Here's the review of my concert in Perth last Friday with violinist Erich Höbarth: 'Some of the most intuitive, candid and affectionate...
Living with Mozart
I'm on my way to Scotland for the start of my Mozart Series with violinist Erich Höbarth. On Friday evening we're playing our opening concert in the Horsecross Concert Hall in Perth, one of Scotland's newest arts centres. For this series, I've been preparing nearly...
November roses
Although the clocks have gone back, the afternoons are growing dark between 4 and 5pm, and winter is clearly approaching, there are still roses blooming in the garden. I'm particularly pleased about one rose, an Ena Harkness, which has taken ages to get established in...
In Oxford
When I was in Oxford the other day to give a masterclass at the university, I visited a friend who lives and teaches in one of the Oxford colleges. To reach his rooms, I had to pass through several interlocking courtyards, or Quads as they're called in Oxford. Each...
Look, no cygnets
In our local park, there's a pond where we've been watching the progress of a spectacular swan family with nine cygnets. Early on in their family life they perfected the art of moving about the lake in procession, their synchronised graceful movements drawing the...
Shredding sheet music
Last week I had to empty my shelves of piano music so that the room could be painted. It took ages and resulted in tottering piles of sheet music on the floor of other rooms. As I carried armfuls of music to and fro, I reflected on how much effort had gone into...
Exploring other ways of doing things
How nice it is to work with young musicians at that interesting crossroads when they're emerging from higher education and developing their own identities as professional musicians. They are no longer dependent on teachers (sometimes they no longer have access to...