Was it wrong to take it home?
Monday, 21 June 2010
Saturday, 19 June 2010
Three cheers For NWB
Last week I joined about 30 other strings players who took part in a concert to celebrate several things, all of them Nigel Brown.
Nigel's instrument schemes have been running for 25 years now, which is ample reason in itself for a celebration. Added to this, however, is the fact he has recently become High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, and since he offered to wear the full official regalia for the evening, I certainly wasn't going to miss it. Finally, the concert raised a huge amount of money for motor neuron desease which is a brilliant cause to support. Pretty much everyone who has ever benefitted from Nigel's help was there, which meant a lot of very well known people.
The event was a black tie affair, for the audience and all but the most rebellious few musicians. Half of us didn't own anything resembling black tie, but we all did our best to cobble something together. I had been told that if I wore anything else I'd be the only person in the hall wearing an individual outfit, although I felt sure that honour would be going to Nigel himself, as it would be an extraordinary coincidence if someone else turned up wearing tights, a sword and a hat.
Altogether the evening was a splendid success, and we are all in Nigel's debt for his 25 years of hard, hard work helping musicians get what they most need- an instrument to play on.
Nigel's instrument schemes have been running for 25 years now, which is ample reason in itself for a celebration. Added to this, however, is the fact he has recently become High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, and since he offered to wear the full official regalia for the evening, I certainly wasn't going to miss it. Finally, the concert raised a huge amount of money for motor neuron desease which is a brilliant cause to support. Pretty much everyone who has ever benefitted from Nigel's help was there, which meant a lot of very well known people.
The event was a black tie affair, for the audience and all but the most rebellious few musicians. Half of us didn't own anything resembling black tie, but we all did our best to cobble something together. I had been told that if I wore anything else I'd be the only person in the hall wearing an individual outfit, although I felt sure that honour would be going to Nigel himself, as it would be an extraordinary coincidence if someone else turned up wearing tights, a sword and a hat.
Altogether the evening was a splendid success, and we are all in Nigel's debt for his 25 years of hard, hard work helping musicians get what they most need- an instrument to play on.
Friday, 18 June 2010
Abbey Road
Yesterday I recorded for the first time at Abbey Road, which is a bit of a sacred place for musicians. It has such amazing history, the walls are lined with pictures of the great artists who have recorded there, and there have been many. The sound is fantastic in the studio, and the sandwiches in the cafe were not at all bad.
The pieces I was recording were from Porgy and Bess, as the piano parts from the great Heifetz arrangements have been beautifully orchestrated by David Matthews, so Carl Davis is including them on his Hollywood themed album due out later this year. He conducted the BBC Concert orchestra for the sessions, and is now one of my favourite people to work with. He has what most people don't, which is the ability to be completely in control and make it look effortless. They can't teach you that at college.
The pieces I was recording were from Porgy and Bess, as the piano parts from the great Heifetz arrangements have been beautifully orchestrated by David Matthews, so Carl Davis is including them on his Hollywood themed album due out later this year. He conducted the BBC Concert orchestra for the sessions, and is now one of my favourite people to work with. He has what most people don't, which is the ability to be completely in control and make it look effortless. They can't teach you that at college.
Friday, 4 June 2010
The Two Rules
The first is that if you ask a hairdresser not to take too much off please, they will cut your hair to within an inch of its life. If you don't want very short hair, never, ever, let that slip in the hairdressers. Red rag to a bull.
The second is that if you ask in a hotel for a room "with a nice view please", you will get one of a selection of rooms they hold back for such people, with the worst views the building has to offer.
The receptionist here at my Heathrow hotel was particularly proud of this one, it took him a full 5 minutes to select it for me.
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
Sunny Wales
I'm here rehearsing with the BBC Welsh orchestra, the leader of which just helped me to discover I'm only 6 degrees separated from Louis Spohr, via my teacher Ruggiero Ricci, and Viotti. I'm Playing Spohr's 8th concerto with them, and I feel a new, profound connection with the piece on learning this news.
And apparently Spohr invented the chinrest, so we have a lot to thank him for there.
Monday, 31 May 2010
The Other Side
I would like to write a few words about something called the IAMA conference, which I found myself attending last month.
IAMA is the International Artists' Managers Association, and it is the body which holds together every manager or management company of any worth around the world.
I made my way there as a delegate to represent my record label, and it was an eye-opening experience to say the very least.
The first day I spent telling everyone this is something no artist should ever have to see. By the end of the 3rd day I was convinced every artist should be forced to see it.
As with any conference, the idea is to do business. As delegates we gathered in a large building, drank vats of coffee, and had 10 minute meetings during which one buys, sells and generally does a year's worth of business in a day.
The interesting part is that we didn't get taught this at music college. We never learnt of the way the whole thing comes together- two sides of the same coin, artists and business people working in completely separate worlds which somehow join in order to bring music to the public. As musicians it is too much accepted to pretend the other half doesn't exist, and when it does it is only a necessary evil.
The Curtis Institute, where I studied, had a class called "20th Century Musician', which attempted to teach us the basics of building a career in the music business. There was a tour of the IMG offices in New York, and a show of hands was requested in the first class to clear up who already had major representation. (Quite a few did.) We learnt how to write a good CV, (something I have never done in my life) and had some very interesting lectures from people on 'the other side', in other words managers and career builders, but they may as well have been from another planet to us musicians.
For me though, the fascinating part of the IAMA conference was that it was the music business laid completely bare. The endless coffee drinking, cigarette smoking cafe debates we had at college about the relative merits of seeing music as a business rather than an art were shattered in the face of a room filled with 300 men and women who were creating the music business. Just like any industry there is an engine room, and here it was. We as musicians spend our lives in darkened practice rooms, worshipping composers (quite rightly) but we too often choose to ignore what it is that goes on beside us to create the opportunities we need to play in front of people.
Of course, playing the violin is something like my reason for being. But how much fun it would be visiting the engine room of the world of music I never would have known.
IAMA is the International Artists' Managers Association, and it is the body which holds together every manager or management company of any worth around the world.
I made my way there as a delegate to represent my record label, and it was an eye-opening experience to say the very least.
The first day I spent telling everyone this is something no artist should ever have to see. By the end of the 3rd day I was convinced every artist should be forced to see it.
As with any conference, the idea is to do business. As delegates we gathered in a large building, drank vats of coffee, and had 10 minute meetings during which one buys, sells and generally does a year's worth of business in a day.
The interesting part is that we didn't get taught this at music college. We never learnt of the way the whole thing comes together- two sides of the same coin, artists and business people working in completely separate worlds which somehow join in order to bring music to the public. As musicians it is too much accepted to pretend the other half doesn't exist, and when it does it is only a necessary evil.
The Curtis Institute, where I studied, had a class called "20th Century Musician', which attempted to teach us the basics of building a career in the music business. There was a tour of the IMG offices in New York, and a show of hands was requested in the first class to clear up who already had major representation. (Quite a few did.) We learnt how to write a good CV, (something I have never done in my life) and had some very interesting lectures from people on 'the other side', in other words managers and career builders, but they may as well have been from another planet to us musicians.
For me though, the fascinating part of the IAMA conference was that it was the music business laid completely bare. The endless coffee drinking, cigarette smoking cafe debates we had at college about the relative merits of seeing music as a business rather than an art were shattered in the face of a room filled with 300 men and women who were creating the music business. Just like any industry there is an engine room, and here it was. We as musicians spend our lives in darkened practice rooms, worshipping composers (quite rightly) but we too often choose to ignore what it is that goes on beside us to create the opportunities we need to play in front of people.
Of course, playing the violin is something like my reason for being. But how much fun it would be visiting the engine room of the world of music I never would have known.
Monday, 17 May 2010
Listen and watch
The Young Musician of the Year finals were on the telly last night, but I could only listen on the radio as over here in Paris I can't get BBC TV. My manager kept me updated by text on the contestant's outfits, which was important. Interesting though, how differently you judge things when you can only hear, and are not disturbed by the visual aspect of a performance.
Anyway, I want to clarify that when I said on my Twitter page that I agreed with Sam Wallaston from the Guardian on his appraisal of the string finals which I was on the jury for, I meant the part about how we were all much too sweet and friendly, and only ever said sugary things, which perhaps was less interesting than Simon Cowell tearing young people's hearts out.
This led to several people thinking I was against the result- which I wasn't!
Just so we're all clear...
Anyway, I want to clarify that when I said on my Twitter page that I agreed with Sam Wallaston from the Guardian on his appraisal of the string finals which I was on the jury for, I meant the part about how we were all much too sweet and friendly, and only ever said sugary things, which perhaps was less interesting than Simon Cowell tearing young people's hearts out.
This led to several people thinking I was against the result- which I wasn't!
Just so we're all clear...
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