PrettyInScarlett

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  - W...

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...