PrettyInScarlett

Not quite 2 weeks into Skipton life and time for my first concert courtesy of Skipton Music . I recognised Yuanfan Yang from his Leeds International Piano Competition entry - definitely a 'one to watch' name! Arriving at Skipton Town Hall , I found that the main hall was pretty full. Definitely more people than a typical Darlington Piano Society concert. The hall has quite a high stage so there aren't really any bad seats.  In his brief speech to the crowd, Yuanfan referenced his previous concert here, 10 years ago!?! Yuanfan spoke with a good degree of confidence and humour. The concert programme was as follows: Liszt, La Vallée d'Obermann from Années de Pélerinage Y. Yang, Ode to the Atlantic Schumann, Carnaval Op. 9 Schubert, Klavierstücke - No. 1 in E flat from Drei Klavierstücke D. 946 P. Cashian, Landscape (1995) Prokofiev, Sonata No. 7 in B flat, Op. 83 I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of a self-penned work and a recent compos

The Red House - Old Shire Hall Still on a roll after my Thursday trip to London, M and I continued the farewell-to-Durham party with Lumiere on Friday.  I obtained tickets for the Friday evening ticketed slot - remembering the post-ticketing queues from 2013's edition - and M and I met a few friends to explore. There were still more larger installations - still not quite as completely random/otherworldly as some of Québec Lumière 2012 - but a very high quality of work. We headed first to Old Elvet for the The Red House and Dreamers .  The Red House in particular was very well done. Heading onto the peninsula, we went to see the Cathedral installations. The World Machine , this year's exterior sound/light installation, was fantastic; a visual explanation of the birth of cosmology. Once we had queued into the Cathedral (this section - not enough thought into the organisation) we were treated to Complex Meshes ; this interactive display on the vault ceiling referred to

About a year ago I was invited to join the Facebook group Piano Network UK. The group is for pianists, teachers, composers, promoters, tuners, journalists: anyone with a specific interest in the UK piano scene. A very friendly bunch, as shown by the 'launch event' held in London last Thursday, 12th November.  The event was initially booked months ago and in the meantime my diary has become very full - such that 3 hours each way to London and back became valuable downtime!  I had also booked an audience ticket rather than performer - it would have been great to perform, but a good decision in the end as I had (still have!) no brain space to prepare anything at the moment. The meetup was held in 1901 Arts Club which is a really small, intimate venue just next to Waterloo station - along one of those curious super-narrow London streets. The ground floor was our performance space for the evening; upstairs there is a cozy bar and lounge. Once we got started, the vibe w

With all the excitement about moving, we will definitely miss this place! Arriving here still homesick for Ottawa, it was great moving into such a friendly area. I'll miss the music groups most definitely; whilst Durham Amateur Pianists isn't continuing in present form, Let's Play the Piano! Newcastle and the Gateshead Piano Workshop are still strong.  Farewell home grown apples   After the amazing Eliza Carthy back in August, it's been so hectic we've not made any concerts etc. I finally made it to Empty Shop the other week for their Cassette Store Day related music fair thing and some good beer. No cassettes purchased (many years since I last had a tape deck) but I did acquire The Caroline EP by local band Dennis . Warm, bouncy, feel-good songs with a brass twist, very nicely done. Also on Facebook . Back there just yesterday for Wax In The Attic , an all-day vinyl fair/event. My most notable 'why not?' purchase was Musique de film imaginé by

Onwards and upwards (and back to Yorkshire) - after a fun filled few years in the North East, M and I are moving to Skipton, North Yorkshire. Another move to somewhere I'd never been before - but given enjoyment of our moves to Ottawa and Durham, that's not necessarily a bad thing. We are overlapping for a few months; I have now been to Skipton and certainly there's a lot to see and do! Plus a surfeit of ale-based establishments... early mentions to Skipton Sound Bar and The Beer Engine . The town feels very vibrant, particularly on market day(s) and the community seems very busy. Initial googling/searching/looking around has unearthed the following groups/events/activities (in no particular order)  about which I/we will thoroughly enjoy learning more: Skipton Ukulele Club! -  I'm still working away at the ukulele, but have never made it to the Durham Uke Group beyond beginner's class - diary clash - so hoping to join this one! Skipton Music - a clas

Since returning to the piano as an adult and through listening to lots of music, I have come to look forward to 'The Leeds' - the world-class Leeds International Piano Competition . The Leeds runs every 3 years, currently running for the 18th time. This year I decided to had along to one of the first round events - nicely coinciding with my birthday! Keyboard seats a must. After lunch with a friend, M and I arrived at the Leeds University Great Hall in time to soak up a bit of atmosphere before the first competitor of the afternoon arrived on stage. Whilst all 5 competitors (in order: Drew Petersen , Rodolfo Leone , Peng Lin, Célia Oneto Bensaid and Gunyoung Hwang) were all very technically competent, it was interesting for the listening experience of hearing successive performers in the same room on the same instrument. Seated position, shoulders, feet, projection - lots of variables! Petersen had a very 'proper' posture and technique, but his pieces lacked what

Sarah Hayes Within an increasingly busy schedule (again arriving at a gig with no listening preparation), M and I attended one of this year's Folkworks Durham Gathering events on Saturday, once again a sold out event at the fabulous Old Cinema Launderette . An instant ticket purchase - after thoroughly enjoying Martin Carthy's gig at the Launderette last year, just seeing the event listing for Eliza and Co was enough. Fun guaranteed. Eliza Carthy and Saul Rose played as a duo, preceded by Sarah Hayes . Eliza and Sarah had both been teaching at this years' Folkworks Summer School which has just finished. I found singer, flautist and storyteller Sarah's set quite interesting - overwhelmingly we have seen folk artists at the Launderette, but this was the first keyboard instrument spotted. Sarah has both classical and indie experiences but last night's set was a simple but effective slice of folk. Eliza Carthy and Saul Rose Eliza and Saul followed up

My first trip to Auckland Castle this summer and the music matched the end of a sunny day. When I saw the listing for a harp quartet, I immediately made a note to go. I've previously seen and heard harp quartets in Ottawa (the Four Seasons Harp Quartet at Music and Beyond, if I recall correctly) and enjoyed the sound.  4 Girls 4 Harps are: Eleanor Turner, Harriet Adie, Keziah Thomas and Elizabeth Scorer. They celebrate their 15th anniversary this year. The organisers at Bishop Auckland Music Society had arranged for this concert to be in St Peter's Chapel rather than the Throne Room; the acoustics in the chapel supported the harps really well, creating a wash of sound. The concert tonight was a super-duper programme of new arrangements, new works and a few favourites. Whilst I enjoyed the favourites (arrangements by Harriet Adie of the 18th Variation from Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini - Rachmaninov - and Waltz 2 from Suite for Variety Orchestra - Shostakovich),

After a few years of looking at music summer school listings, I took the plunge and tried a residential music course in Somerset. The provider, Jackdaws Music Educational Trust , runs one day and weekend courses for adult participants as well as educational projects in-house and in local schools. The course I decided to try was 'The Pianist Within' with Elena Riu, faculty professor at Trinity Laban and creator and collaborator of many genre-bending releases (to judge from her online bio available on her website ). There were 9 of us on the course and it was a very relaxed, friendly atmosphere. Indeed I met one fellow pianist at Frome station whilst waiting for a taxi! I had a B&B in Great Elm, a short walk from Jackdaws and the village was really nice. Music mixing in with birdsong, the river bubbling away, the odd horse and rider - very tranquil. We even had a day of summer on the Saturday! I also realised I knew one of the other pianists - it's a very small worl

Finally.... we have been to an event at the Sage! A friend visiting Durham noticed that the exceptionally talented Sarah Jarosz , Sara Watkins and Aoife O'Donovan , aka I'm With Her, were playing Hall 2 on Friday, 24th April. Sold! We have one of Sarah Jarosz' albums and like her sound, but were less familiar with Watkins and O'Donovan. Right up near the ceiling, we could see down onto the stage and onto the wildly enthusiastic audience below. After a short support set (so-so, I have forgotten the guy's name but he notably played a few songs sat with his acoustic guitar held horizontal), the I'm With Her trio produced an outstanding set of around 90 minutes.  Mixing solo songs from each of their respective careers with traditional songs and instrumental interludes, they wove a super spell of folk/country/bluegrass/Americana tunes. I had lots of goosebumps!  Notable tracks: Sarah Jarosz - ' Run Away', 'Build Me Up From Bones' and 

Once again far too busy to look anything up beforehand... so M and I headed to see Laura Moody on Friday completely fresh. Wow!  A very cosy audience at the Old Cinema Launderette were treated to Laura's super songs and very funky cello playing (slide cello, anyone!). Just happened to pick up a copy of the latest NARC magazine to find... an article about Laura Moody! She is one very original and talented musician, from contemporary music with Elysian Quartet and The Gogmagogs to Meredith Monk emsemble.  The songs we heard in her 1-hour set mixed genres, effects (vocal and instrumental), structures and funny stories (including tales of Stockhausen in a helicopter ) for a very memorable evening. Some of the most original music (no typical song structures here) I've heard since I first saw The PepTides ... Cello as harp, drum, ukulele, funky tunings - all here. George the cello is very versatile... Most of the songs were taken from current album Acrobats , with a

Today M and I finally made a trip to Ushaw College , former seminary, now - what? Specifically, we went to hear Ushaw String Quartet perform, but it was also interesting to see the buildings. I knew that Durham Business School had been based there (they still are, in part); I knew that some students live there; but not much else. The core parts of the building are open to visitors on Saturdays from today, so we saw St Cuthbert's Chapel, lots of side chapels and some funky Richard III memorabilia (inner history geek says woop!). Richard, Duke of York's book of hours - amazingly small for such a minutely detailed book; copy of Geoffrey of Monmouth's 'A History of Britain'; and the Westminster Vestment, last seen being worn by Cardinal Vincent Nichols in a requiem mass for Richard III . On entering St Cuthbert's Chapel, this is the view:   The Ushaw String Quartet were in St Cuthbert's Chapel performing the string quartet arrangement of Haydn's

From a friend in Ottawa Piano Group: Poco a Poco  ~ Betsy Sholl Yellow practice books with their stammer names, Buxtehude, Beethoven. And clumped notes, dense thickets, weeds stuck to a fence, fingers or vines – burr-tangle of stop-start, try harder, hack through, and always at the same place: blocked, as if somebody at a gate or just the gate said, “No. Not you.” Some stupid password: boy, blanket, battery, Bach. Stupid keys stupid fingers bang till the strings tremble, then toss the book. But the notes don't shake loose. Notes or birds, flashing past, out of reach, calling “So long, sucker.” Sucker with stuck mouth, stuck piano. Or girl making a splintery ruin. So much racket there's a stillness after. A bird calls. Not pretty, but it gets an answer. So, there's try again – like tiptoe then, finger by key, ear bent close, careful not to disturb, like words whisper-sung, slow, one at a time before a phrase comes, notes before music, one hand before two, till – poco a poc

Old and new worlds mixed yesterday with Angela Hewitt 's recital for Darlington Piano Society . Having seen Angela 3 times (plus a rehearsal) in Ottawa it was good to hear her in a different environment. The room in the Dolphin Centre had been rearranged to fit more people (and there was hardly a spare seat), but no Fazioli - so another difference to previous recitals. A more diverse andience than normal, with a good few first listeners  - for Angela, if not for the DPS too! The programme, performed in memory of David Robson and after a brief introduction, was as follows: Bach – Partita no.5 in G Major, BWV 829 Beethoven – Sonata in E flat major, Op. 81a (Les Adieux) ------ Beethoven – Sonata in A flat major, Op. 110 Bach – Siciliano from the Flute Sonata in E flat major (arr. Wilhelm Kempff) Bach – Sheep may Safely Graze (arr. Mary Howe) Bach – Alle Menschen Müssen Sterben (arr. Angela Hewitt) Bach – Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue Having heard 3 concerts this season on

A winter break in Ottawa visiting friends and old haunts included tickets to see Hey Rosetta! with Stars at the NAC . We were really excited to see Hey Rosetta! especially after a music buying spree at Compact Music (fortunate exchange rates). Southam Hall was completely full - combination of 2 different bands' worth of music fans - and whilst Hey Rosetta received slightly muted appreciation initially, this soon changed to lots of whooping. The set list (with help from Ottawa Citizen's review ) included: Soft Offering..., Gold Teeth, What Arrows, Young Glass, Neon Beyond, Harriet, Kintsukuroi, Welcome as well as older songs Yer Spring, Red Heart. Excellent performance, though with a bit less banter than I might have expected - and it was good to hear new songs as well as familiar songs (since our holiday apartment didn't have a turntable we went to the show without having heard new album Second Sight ).   Having never heard much of Stars before, we listened to a

My review of the latest Darlington Piano Society concert, Danny Driver on 11th January, is featured in BBC Music Magazine's 'You Review' feature here . Notwithstanding the qualities of Maria Marchant and Clare Hammond, this concert was the high point so far of the current Darlington Piano Society season. My edited comments follow below.   The recital programme was: Handel: Suite no. 5 in E major HWV 430 Thomas Adès  - Three Mazurkas Op. 27 Beethoven  - Sonata no. 28 in A major Op. 101 C.P.E.Bach Fantasie in F sharp minor H300 Schumann Fantasy in C major Op. 17   Driver briefly introduced the themes of each half of the concert. Handel’s Suite No. 5 opened the afternoon's music– enjoyable, especially the Air and variations ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’; in very great contrast to the Thomas Adès Mazurkas which followed. In these, we were treated to a taste of Adès' humour, in particular in the third Mazurka with its interwoven multiple elements. The firs