Some new instrumental pieces are on the way. Some solo piano and some with orchestral backing - it's turning out to be a productive time.
I reprised the Music of the Lakes Concert in West Cumbria, with music, video, instruments and featuring Tanya Anderson and David Wilson singing. The concert went very well, with a lot of good feedback after the event.
I have now added several videos to my YouTube page -
http://www.youtube.com/laketunes
You can click on this link to see them. (Opens in a new window)
The concert with Flimby Male Voice choir, in Aspatria went down really well. Almost every seat was taken, the men sang really well, and the guest singer Keri Farish was exceptional. I received good feedback (and CD sales - always a good sign!) for "Buttermere". After my description of "Buttermere" being a "melodic reflection of the stillness of the lake on a sunny warm day", one man in the audience called out "so when did that happen then?!" (It has been raining in the Lakes most days for weeks) I told him it happened last year.
OK - I've sold CDs in the Lake District, then across Cumbria, some in London...but the furthest recorded sales so far are South Korea and the USA. I'm really pleased that my music is being heard in such different places!
Now I'm in a good mood - you can listen to my music and buy it on iTunes. But will I be the first person to buy my CD there? I wonder.
I went to hear George Benjamin's Ringed by the Flat Horizon in the Royal Albert Hall. I've heard some of his music before, but was knocked back by this - it's a really colourful, imaginative piece with some great orchestration. At the end the BBC Orchestra played Ravel's Bolero. I've played it many times before, but to hear it from right behind the brass was amazing! You have to hear it from start to end (16 minutes without any distraction) to really appreciate its contrasts.
Ok - its holiday time, and things have slowed down - well actually, stalled (like my car this morning on the way past Sainsburys!) What shall I do with my little bit of time - I know, I'll fiddle with the website! Maybe encourage someone to buy a CD.
I'm really pleased - the Tales of Cumbria CD has been selling well so far - I can barely keep up! Thanks so much to all of you who have given me such kind feedback about the music! Thanks especially to Geoff for eloquently describing Sour Milk Gill as music cascading just like a waterfall in the last concert! A generous analogy!
At last, I've finally recorded, edited, mixed, and finished my latest CD "Tales of Cumbria". It's felt like a long emotinal journey, but hey, it was worth it!
I really enjoyed this concert. I was conducting this fantastic choir of children (along with the Flimby Male Voice troupe) in a mixed programme of popular songs and songs from Africa and Russia. When the fellas were doing their African harmony chanting with the kids' singing in Yoruba, it sounded awesome!
What an event - the closing night of Maryport's grand Civic Hall - the last ever concert to take place in that amazing hall. Fom the stage it looked like the Last Night of the Proms, with luminous light tubes being waved by the huge audience. Won't forget this one for a long time.
