PrettyInScarlett

Hafdis Huld General Sherman The culmination of a very busy week at the end of October (although I am so rarely not busy...) saw M and I back at the Old Cinema Launderette to see Icelandic singer Hafdis Huld . Partly booked because we couldn't get to see the ever amazing Ólöf Arnalds during her short October tour; and partly out of sheer curiosity. Even more so when I discovered the show was sold out! The evening started with an interesting set from Middlesbrough band General Sherman . Their first few songs reminded me a little of another Icelandic band, Amiina; lo-fi mellow meanderings. A few songs felt a little too ponderous, but overall positive. Carrying a tour wound (a broken finger) and accompanied by partner Alisdair, Hafdis sat on one of the washing machines and instantly wove a spell. She held the audience for the full length of her set with her witty manner - jokes, song introductions and more -  as well as her songs. The aforesaid busy schedule precluded a

Having missed last season's concerts, I was determined to start well with the current selection of performances through Darlington Piano Society . A bright, sunny October afternoon on 12th found M and I in the Dolphin Centre for an afternoon of music by Maria Marchant . Definitely a name to watch, Maria opened the 2014 season with a very thoughtful programme 'Conflicts and Memories - The First World War' featuring a selection of works composed around the war years from French, Russian and British composers - Debussy, Ravel, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and John Ireland. Maria chose to introduce each set of pieces before playing. The concert was organised at the beginning with Debussy's Berceuse héroïque and Élégie , followed by Rachmaninov's Études-Tableaux, Op. 39 - Nos 8 and 5. Whilst these works were well performed, especially No. 8 of Rachmaninov's set, I felt Maria lacked a certain degree of stage presence. This was much improved, however, throughout the f

Piano at the ready! (by M) After a good few months prep, the concert Piano Music and Poetry (organised through the Gateshead Piano Workshop folks) came around pretty quickly. As one of the participants, I was excited and also a little nervous about the prospect of a Paying Audience. The work paid off, as all the performers were excellent! Well appreciated by the compact audience. The format was in relation to National Poetry Day which was on 2nd October. Each performer chose a poem either in direct or indirect relation to their piece. A summary of the programme: Alan - Liszt Consolation No 4 and Mozart Adagio in B minor Graeme - Chopin Nocturne Op. 62 No. 2 with 'Uncertainty' by Adam Mickiewicz me - Clara Schumann, andante con sentimento with 'Clara Wieck und Beethoven' by Franz Grillparzer Jim - R Schumann Kinderszenen 1 and 7 with 'My child, we were just children' by Heinrich Heine Ernie - Debussy Clair de lune with excerpt from 'Fêtes g

After last year's success, I was really excited about this year's The Piano Cloud meetup event at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Even more so once the room booking was confirmed - 2 Steinway Model D pianos!!!  Present for the afternoon were Andrew ( Keyquest Music ), Terry ( Purple Rhapsody ), Luke ( Freemondo ), Jacob Uhlig , Chris, and myself. Amongst a lot of chat and eating of Krispy Kremes, we enjoyed a super afternoon of music. Terry and Andrew both played pre-written pieces: Terry played a few songs from his new album Momentary Muse , including the fabulous Legions of Poppies, as well as treating us to a rare live improvisation:   Andrew treated us to 'Prelude to a Better Year', and the pair treated the rest of us to a really fun sight-read of Kevin Olson's ' Hoedown at Cripple Creek '. Andrew's good friend Chris also pleased with a few improvisations. Luke once again showed his breathtaking improvisational

I have received information of the new Belmont Piano Recital series which is held at Belmont Parish Hall, near Durham. Recitals are Thursdays at 2.30pm as detailed below: Also coming up this week on 4th September, BBC Antiques Roadshow are holding a valuation event at Durham Cathedral from 9.30-4.30pm. Admission is free. More information is available on their website . 

Something of a pre-birthday treat, M and I were eagerly anticipating this Launderette concert featuring folk legend Martin Carthy with local support from Paul Liddell . Whilst still relative newcomers to the comings and goings of the UK folk scene, we were aware of Martin's history and status... quite excited come doors time! A sold-out Launderette (which is around 30 people) was very appreciative of support artist Paul Liddell, who was a little nervous at playing totally unplugged in contrast to his professed use of live sampling in more 'regular' events. Nonetheless, a high quality and very entertaining set, featuring songs such as 'The Ends Of The Earth' and even an audience sing-along!  Martin's set (or really, 2 sets with an interval - something like 2 hours of music) was an education as well as an experience. He introduced/contextualised each song with stories of where it came from/ musicians he'd heard playing it/ relating to current soc

Something of a last minute plan but M and I had high hopes of the 18th July Fractal Sparks event based on information from the people at Brass: Durham International Festival . The show was billed as a multimedia spectacular featuring Jo Hamilton , Lanterns on the Lake , Durham County Youth Big Band (DCBB) and The Band of the Royal Corps of Signals .  Arriving early at Durham Cathedral, the venue filled up in a relaxed manner, and was completely full by showtime. The event was effectively 2 concerts and the first concert featured Newcastle band Lanterns on the Lake with DCBB. This 45 minute-odd set was a very relaxed affair. We hadn't heard any Lanterns music before, but they have a keys/guitar/violin/drums setup mixing low-fi indie and post-rock sounds. The band seemed a little nervous (slightly limited stage talk) but we enjoyed the set. The songs which worked best with DCBB (and at least 1 song had been written especially for this concert) were 'To My Soul', 'Cr

Something of a trend towards piano groups/similar for amateurs seems to be going on at the moment (excellent! definitely a more is more scenario!), with features on blogs such as Practising the Piano and The Cross-Eyed Pianist . The forthcoming issue of Pianist Magazine, issue 79, will feature an article on piano groups, for which I contributed some material regarding both Ottawa Piano Group and Durham Amateur Pianists . More information on the forthcoming magazine can be found here .

Yesterday I was privileged to attend a masterclass at the Lit & Phil in Newcastle by Prof. Vanessa Latarche of Royal Conservatory of Music. The masterclass had been organised by the Gateshead Piano Workshop and featured some of their regular attendees.  The class was informative yet informal. Vanessa worked well with all the performers and made them feel very much at ease. The repertoire presented was a range of known and more obscure pieces from the Romantic end of the spectrum. First up with a 'new to me' piece was Neil, who played beautifully Madeleine Dring 's 'Prelude' from Prelude and Toccata . The Prelude is a fabulous piece, very atmospheric  - English nuances with French impressionism - with an insistent left hand part that haunts the piece throughout. The rest of the class was as follows: Chopin -  Prelude No 25 c# Brahms -  Intermezzo in A Op. 118 Mendelssohn – Andante and variations in Bb Op. 83 - theme and variations 1-4. Schubert  - Wande

Am impromptu decision on a rainy week night resulting in a really interesting evening. The MUSICON series promoted by Durham University Music Department runs an (annual?) festival of East Asian Music, with this year's three events focusing on the music of China, Korea and Japan respectively. I have attended a few concerts of Chinese/Taiwanese origin music and have always enjoyed them; however I don't recall having attended any Korean musical events. This evening's musical journey , held in the Oriental Museum , predominantly featured new compositions by composer Yoon Hyelin - including 2 world premieres! The assembled musicians work towards the concept of 'haal', described in the programme as the 'exclamation made at the moment of realisation or awakening among Buddhist monks'. Throughout the programme the basis of most pieces was an idea of transcending the everyday and moving towards a state of relaxed consciousness. Mixing between vocal and ins

The start of the summer season and Auckland Castle is open for visits, including the annual season of concerts organised and promoted by Bishop Auckland Music Society , the latest of which was held on Friday 16th May. A short drive along the scenic route took us to a very full Throne Room in the castle for a recital by rising star Alexandra Dariescu on piano. The programme, complete with short introductions from Alexandra, was themed around the development of the prelude through the ages. The first half of the concert started with the extremes of Bach and Shostakovich to set the tone: Bach's Prelude and Fugue in B minor (Well Tempered Clavier Book 2 No. 24) followed by a selection from Shostakovich's Preludes Op. 24 - I particularly enjoyed Nos 3 and 6 - 6 in particular a somewhat witty representation of a pub band. Subsequent to this the audience was treated to a wonderfully beautiful performance of Scarlatti's Sonata in F minor, K 466 - a soft sobbing lament; and a

The end of the month brought more exciting musical events. Not least en route to Vienna - since my last trip through St Pancras International there are now two 'Play Me I'm Yours' style street pianos in the station.  Played a little Philip Glass prior to check in... hearing snippets of performances and doodles was so much more relaxing than piped music! Our afternoon date for Saturday 26th April was a trip to the Wiener Konzerthaus (Mozart-Saal) to hear Valentina Lisitsa with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra . The programme was a real time-spanning treat, from Mozart's Overture to Cosi fan tutte K588 and Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in D minor, K466 , via Tchaikovsky's Elegie for string orchestra in G major (in memory of Ivan W. Samarin) towards Shostakovich's wonderfully funny Incidental Music for Hamlet Op 32a from 1931-32. From the start the Vienna Chamber Orchestra were excellent - warm, tight, fluid sound easily filling the hall. Valentina, on a Bös

Hebden Bridge marina Continuing my week of high quality concerts, M and I set off for Hebden Bridge yesterday with tickets to a sold out concert by renowned pianist Noriko Ogawa . Another new place experience too; for a small town there is a lot going on in Hebden Bridge. A fun afternoon exploring the town and sampling the culinary treasures of places like The Olive Branch ... and a visit to the local record shop, Muse Music . Hebden Bridge Piano Festival (this year part of Yorkshire Festival ) was based in the recently renovated and community run Town Hall . A very bright, comfortable space with a cosy cafe as well. Arriving for the evening concert we heard most of Dale Storr 's early evening set in the cafe, performing New Orleans style blues piano. An excellent performance including a rendition of Stairway to Heaven in homage to James Booker . The sold out Waterfront Hall held around 200 people, all of whom were very excited to see Noriko. The concert programme inc

A bit of careful googling brings up information for a good few concert societies in the region, including the very well established Sunderland Pianoforte Society . I have been meaning to attend one of their events and finally made the trip to Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens yesterday for the final piano concert of the current season, featuring Margaret Fingerhut with a full programme including Chopin, Schubert, Liszt, Debussy and more. A first for me in artist as well as location! Arriving in the Museum I had chance to at least glance at the displays in the Pottery room; enough to notice that the Museum is definitely worth a detailed visit. I also noted the fabulous Steinway ready and waiting. I had heard about the ' Sunderland Steinway ' from a few musical friends and even from the first few notes the character of this centenarian Model D shone through: warm, mellow and very classy. Fantastic. Margaret's programme for the evening was centred around ballade

Thanks to a fortuitous perusal of Facebook the other week, I spotted the listing for Tynedale Music Festival via The British and International Federation of Festivals ' feed. I'd not previously been to this style of competition/festival before; result =  fun first visit to Hexham albeit braving thick fog and grey skies.  I only saw the afternoon session of the Tynedale Music Festival - Open Pianoforte Duet (P12) and Open Pianoforte Recital Class (P11). I hope their evening concert had a good turnout as the afternoon audience was rather select... but enthusiastic!  First up the Piano Duet class, featuring music by Ravel - excerpts from Mother Goose ; Bernstein's four-hands arragement of Overture to Candide ; Arthur Benjamin's Jamaican Rumba and (I believe) an arrangement of Spohr's String Quartet in G minor (1st movement). A lot of unusual repertoire already and it was really interesting listening to the performances. The eventual winners (Ravel and Berns

The events calendar gets busier and all of a sudden it's March and starting to feel like spring! Seems a long time since our first visit to The Old Cinema Launderette ... I picked last night's Dan Walsh show somewhat out of curiosity and reminiscing about beginner's clawhammer from Ottawa Folkfest.  About 20 or so people were at the Launderette last night, quite full for a small room! A good mixture and a high percentage of folk fans who were familiar with Dan's music. There was supposedly a support band, but they didn't show so Dan played 2 sets - lucky us!  Most of Dan's songs were performed on his banjo with a few guitar numbers as well. Dan has collected a fair few accolades for 'best British banjo player' and this is no understatement. Playing a range of styles and songs old and new from bluegrass, reels, songs fast and slow - including a rock edge on 'Hammer and Nail', his musicianship is really impressive. The vocal tracks wer

Spring is coming and with it the choice of concerts seems to expand! Prompted by the ever-useful Music in Durham website, for the first time I attended a Durham University Music Society  concert and my first experience of a piano duo (2 people, 2 pianos rather than a duet which is 1 piano). Quite a reasonable gathering for a Monday evening in the Concert Room in the Music Department on Palace Green.   The Parnassus Piano Duo , Simon Callaghan and Hiro Takenouchi, make an understated but excellent duo, who treated the audience to a programme of the following:    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91): Larghetto & Allegro in E flat [1781]  Percy Sherwood (1866-1939): Sonata for Two Pianos in C minor [1890 rev. 96]  Aaron Copland (1900-1990): El Salón México (arr. Leonard Bernstein) [1932-6]  Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943): Suite No.2 Op.17   Closing my eyes during the Mozart, I could almost imagine an evening soiree in a Viennese salon...   Percy Sherwood makes very

After Thursday's fabulous music and with a head still full of Basia, on Saturday we went for a day trip to York to see acclaimed British pianist Martin Roscoe . Martin was performing as part of the inaugural York Chamber Music Festival , held in Bootham School over the weekend 13th-16th February. After a stroll around the centre and a bite at the lovely Licc (excellent apple pie and ice cream) we headed to Bootham.  I had been keen to see Martin for a while and particularly after a review from a friend who saw him at Ottawa Chamberfest 2013. Perhaps unusual for a pianist in solo recital, Martin performed with the music (no page turner to help, but very quick and efficient page turns). His York concert was themed around fantasy: Mozart Fantasy in D minor K.397 ; Beethoven Sonata Quasi Una Fantasia Op. 27 No. 2 'Moonlight ; Brahms, 3 Fantasies Op. 116 Nos. 1, 4 and 7 ; and Chopin Fantasy in F minor Op. 49 . The hall in Bootham School was set up with a Grotrian-Steinweg gra

Time flies and already it is a year since we returned to the UK from Canada. Perfect coincidence then that hugely talented Canadian singer-songwriter Basia Bulat came to the UK this week for her first UK tour. Her nearest show to us was in Leeds' Belgrave Music Hall, so M and I braved the horrid weather for a superb show - the best gig we have been to since at least Ólafur Arnalds.  Basia Bulat Belgrave Music Hall is a great intimate place in the centre of Leeds. Going in there was a large bar (wide variety of beer) and seating area with different food outlets (local franchises I believe). The show was up on the 2nd floor in a very cosy, sofa filled space with a smaller bar at the back.  Once we we all settled, support act The Sea and I came on for a short support slot. I have seen better and seen worse. Their best 2 tracks were right at the end of the set; everyone except the lead singer seemed disinterested, even bored to be there. A quick glance at their websit

Durham now has a new music shop for instruments, books and more. Added Brass , based at 17 High Street, Langley Moor, primarily stocks brass instruments and accessories but is looking to expand into other instruments and a wide range of sheet music. They are open weekdays 5-7 with extended afternoon hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; and Saturdays 10-5, also via Facebook . Owner Brian Yates was also featured in local news ahead of his official opening in January.   Reading around online at the weekend I came across the website for Yorkshire Festival 2014 , which runs from March-July 2014 to celebrate the Grand Départ of this year's Tour de France. 100 days of cultural events of all shapes and sizes - definitely worth a visit!   

Harri Endersby Perusing the local magazines during a recent trip to Brewdog in Newcastle, I came across some gig listings for innovative Durham business The Old Cinema Launderette . Retro-stylish launderette in an old cinema building with live music events? Two very curious gig goers went to try out this concept yesterday evening. A quick search for headliners The Black Feathers found an enticing folk/roots duo. Off we went. The Black Feathers I hadn't had a chance to check out the first act, Harri Endersby , however for a relative newcomer she has a good few well-written songs and will hopefully grow into the craft displayed by The Black Feathers. Their varied set (dubbed 'cheerfully challenged' by singer Sian in between songs) was very immersive from the opener 'Strangers We Meet'; that song in particular was extremely emotive. The first non-classical gig we've attended in many months (so out of practice that I forgot my camera!), we enjoy

Catching up on my blog feeds after the break, I came across an interesting article on Bachtrack by Frances Wilson about amateur pianism. As a fellow piano lover and piano group organiser, I thought it offered an excellent insight into the world of amateur pianists. Read it here .