A Mischievous Muse & Maritime Rites
To the Australian High Commission for the launch of Anthony Meredith & Paul Harris’s biography of my late friend, composition tutor and mentor Malcolm Williamson, A Mischievous Muse. From what…
Latitude Festival
Just back from the Latitude Festival in Suffolk. Great to get out of London, great to spend the weekend listening to live music with 20,000+ others, great to see old…
Playing for Mark Morris
Just back from what’s turned out to be an annual stint for the last three years, playing for The Mark Morris Dance Group company classes on their flying visits to…
100 tips for working with ballet pianists #32: Check your pianist is ready
Glance over to your pianist just before you say ‘and…’ to check that they are ready to play, especially if they are reading from printed music. On the other hand,…
100 tips for working with ballet pianists #31: Be accurate about the tempo you want
If you’re marking an exercise for dancers, it can be tempting to ‘mark’ the tempo to the pianist as well – but this is an impossibility: giving a tempo is…
100 tips for working with ballet pianists #30 Use counts, not bars
When you’re marking an exercise for a pianist, speak in terms of counts rather than bars, particularly with introductions (e.g. say ‘x counts in’, rather than ‘x bars in’). Unless…