It was great to be part of the RSNO chamber series in Glasgow yesterday afternoon in its first ‘live’ concert for an in-person audience since the pandemic.  That’s a gap of almost three years!

Photo shows (L to R) cellist Pei Jee Ng, me, violist Tom Dunn, violinist Lena Zeliszewska, violinist and RSNO concertmaster Maya Iwabuchi.

Everyone seemed to be feeling particularly cheerful about being back in the New Auditorium of Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. It’s a very nice space to play in and I found myself thinking it’s just the sort of hall it would be great to have in Edinburgh.

Our all-Shostakovich programme (the Piano Trio and the Piano Quintet) was perhaps an unusual choice for an event that felt so celebratory, but in fact the audience as well as the players seemed keen to get their teeth into something substantial. I had wondered if it would feel difficult to perform Shostakovich’s sad and powerful Piano Trio on a Sunday afternoon, but in fact the deep attentive silence of the audience seemed to prove that people are hungry for meaningful music.