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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.
The imaginary concert hall at the end of the street
A friend and I have been discussing the career of a mutual friend who died recently. He was a fabulous musician who wasn't as well known as he should have been. Writers and visual artists can stay put in the place where they choose to live, and create their work...
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Watching the Van Cliburn piano competition
I have been keeping half an eye on the 2025 Van Cliburn piano competition in Texas, partly because when I was writing Women and the Piano I did a fair amount of research into the gender disparity one can see in the lists of piano competition prizewinners around the...
The difficulty of ending in tempo and without a pause
When you play a lot of Romantic piano music, you get used to the final notes being extended by a written pause. Composers like Chopin and Schumann often wanted the last chord to ring on gently (or triumphantly) while the mood of the piece hung in the air. We pianists...
Wimbledon BookFest on Saturday
The Wimbledon BookFest has asked me to mention them, and I'm happy to spread the word as my own event is one of the first in this year's BookFest. The festival runs from 2-10 October and you can find out more here. On the evening of Saturday 2 October I'm giving a...
Counting your listeners
Yesterday I was at a conference about creativity in performance. There were many interesting speakers, several of whom told anecdotes to make their points clear. At one point we were talking about the curious blend of involvement and detachment that seems to be...
Bronze age
Last time I saw Anthony Gormley's bronze figures, they were perched on top of various London buildings. When you crossed Waterloo Bridge on foot, you had time to spot several of them in perilous locations, looking unnervingly like people who might have to be talked...
‘Scotsman’ article today on piano competition
Following on from yesterday's post about the Scottish International Piano Competition, anyone who's interested in the new chamber music round may like to read Kenneth Walton's article on the subject in today's Scotsman newspaper. The chamber final is tonight at 7pm in...
Trillions of notes
I'm in rainy Glasgow, half way through my fortnight on the jury of the triennial Scottish International Piano Competition. Obviously I can't say much as the competition is still in progress, but I can say how absorbing it's been to hear so many accomplished young...
More musical if wearing a long frock
Much discussion yesterday about Ben Goldacre’s ‘Bad Science’ column in the Guardian. This time he was reporting a piece of good science, a paper by Noola Griffiths which shows that young women violinists are judged more musical and more technically proficient if they...
Herald article about SIPC
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...
Last roes of summer
All right, natural science correspondents, I may have got the deer species completely wrong, but I couldn't resist the pun. After so much bad weather here recently, with autumn seeming ever closer, the wind dropped today and the sun seemed to gather itself for one...
Something Good
What a pleasure to hear the John Wilson Orchestra in their Rodgers and Hammerstein Prom, which I heard on television. John Wilson’s arrangements are simply spellbinding. His hand-picked orchestra, with many individually distinguished musicians playing in it, reminded...
Yelling for silence
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...
Por una cabeza
I’ve been struggling to get rid of what the Germans call an ‘Ohrwurm’, a catchy tune that goes round and round in your head whether you want it to or not. My Ohrwurm is an early-20th-century Argentine tango, El Choclo, 'the ear of corn', which I heard played on the...
Art imitating photography
Went to the BP Portrait Award exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, which was packed with visitors. The technical standard of painting in many of the portraits was astonishing. Skin, hair, eyelashes, veins were depicted with stunning realism and skill. In quite...