Having started the cello much later to most other musicians, I found myself battling the fear of performing at the same time as facing an insecure self-image that often comes with being a 12 year old. I believe this made the issue far greater than it would've been, had I been performing at an earlier …
Category: Music
Larsen Magnacore Cello String Review
Strings are to a musician like ballet shoes are to a dancer. Just as each dancer is very different and requires different size and softness of shoes, every cello is vastly different and requires different strings to compliment the resonance of the instrument. My cello has an especially bright and powerful quality, especially on …
Tennis and musical injury- the injustice
Following a hectic final term at school, my return home last Friday was greeted with the excitement of both the women and men's Wimbledon finals. Throughout the whole of the tournament this year, I couldn't help but compare the lives of tennis players with our lives as musicians, and how tennis may be revealing …
Why Elgar?
For many years now Edward Elgar has been the main inspiration for my music making and growing passion of music. For those who aren't familiar with Elgar's life story, he was the son of of a piano tuner and lived in Worcester for his early years. He has become the definition of English music and …
Music, Philosophy and Jeanette Winterson
For Christamas this year, I bought Jeanette Winterson's semi-autobiography, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, for my pianist friend, Jasmin. I thought I would interest Jasmin because of Jeanette's inspirational story and her connections with Oxford, (Jasmin is awaiting a response from her Hartford interview!) and so it did. So much so in fact that …
Waiting For Love- Poems for presents
I didn't mind But Waiting for love Was like waiting for a dream to come To fly by and take me to a world afar Where love was the waterfall and I was the reflection I was shown the life from my dreams in the river A life where the moon kissed the stars And …
Always choose the better life- mental health and musicians
Sometimes our thoughts can be far more destructive than the events surrounding us. Of course these two things are often interlinked, but not exclusively. If we have a specific worry plaguing our minds, no matter how laid back our life may seem, often the internal anguish can be far more warring and destructive. On …
Continue reading Always choose the better life- mental health and musicians
What it feels like
They told me Fly like a bird, they said all Be like the sound you want to hear Be like a sportsman, set the intention, precision Then play like a dream and run like the wind Sing you, sing like the moon, play as the risen lark Dream like the artist who grew this …
I can’t do Jazz, but I know it so well
Jazz music has always inspired me to do something but I can never quite figure it out! It may sound odd to some, but it gives me this wealth of energy and inspiration that I feel unable to organise or act upon. Should I try to compose a jazz melody, does my mind want to …
Courier of the soul- A poem
Performing is delivering a gift From writer to reader, composer to listener You decide the path and perhaps the packaging But you leave the gift at the front door Ready to be discovered, unwrapped and cherished. The package was in your care Responsible for its preservation You may enjoy the recipients reaction But you are …
