Another fun first! - residential course at Jackdaws

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 world...

The format of the course was masterclass-style, with yoga/relaxation sessions as well. The yoga sessions were not asana-based, but a series of breathing and relaxation movements suited to all attendees.

Friday evening's session was an intro-icebreaker-short play where each person had 15 minutes of play/tuition, followed by a relaxing yoga session then supper (we were all ravenous at that point!). Saturday was more formal, with about 30 minutes per person with 2 yoga sessions and an afternoon break. After a shorter morning session on Sunday we had an afternoon concert which was a really nice end to the weekend. The 9 pianists were at a variety of levels (piano and confidence) but worked really well together. The range of repertoire was really interesting - lots of more modern repertoire, Latin American composers - a good mix and very few 'great master' type pieces. We were all in love with the main Jackdaws piano (a very lovely Steinway) and it was a treat to play.

Another attendee who had been to Jackdaws before warned me about the food. The catering is superb! I could get used to fresh cakes and three course meals every day....

By the time I got back on the train (with 2 fellow musicians travelling the same direction) my brain - and notebook - were full of tips and new ideas. I now need to rewrite/organise my notes, but I have a lot of ideas with which to move forward. Roll on the next course!

Angela Hewitt Week, 14th-20th May 2012

I just received information from a friend about Angela Hewitt Week in Ottawa, 14th-20th May as declared by Mayor Jim Watson. Ms Hewitt is performing with Chamber Players of Canada on Friday 18th May; there will also be An Afternoon With Angela Hewitt on 20th May at the National Arts Centre hosted by the Canadian Friends of the Trasimeno Music Festival .

Pigeon Funk

Notes on a very random purchase. Earlier today I acquired Venetian Snares 'Rossz Csillag Alatt Sz ü letett ' purely on the basis of the language and artwork. Its certainly something different - and most definitely not pop. After a bit of searching: Venetial Snares is, according to Wikipedia, the performing name of Aaron Funk, who seems to specialise in experimental tracks in odd time signatures. Article here . The sleeve notes for this album (whose title is Hungarian for 'Born under a bad star') poses the question: what if, for just a day, we could both be pigeons? Interessant. Apparently this concept (a day in the life of a Hungarian pigeon) is non-typical of Venetian Snares sound, but one could ask, does Mr Funk do 'typical'? On first listening, the sound of this CD mixes classical/traditional Hungarian sounds and breakbeats. but aside from that? Definitely a 'listen for yourself' artist; try the website , fan site or myspace .

The Venezuelan maestro comes to Cardiff

A highly anticipated evening of entertainment for M and I, we headed to St Davids Hall to see the conductor of the moment, Gustavo Dudamel , conduct the Philharmonia Orchestra . Highly entertaining, too, and the place was pretty full, though possibly not sold out. We had anticipated the first piece to be Antonio Estevez' 'Mediodia en el llano', but a last minute change meant the first work was (I believe - the posters up in the venue were rather short on info!) Berlioz' Roman Carnival. Initially we may have been a tad disappointed but the replacement work was excellently peformed, cue many smiles. Unfortunately, the smiles soon evaporated, as the second, and for us, least interesting piece, was Mozart's Piano Concert No.17 K453 with Emanuel Ax on piano. M described Ax as mellow, I described him as dull. That may be because neither of us are really into Mozart, but compared to previous visits to St Davids Hall to see pianists Noriko Ogawa and Freddy Kempf, we really...

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