I’m writing this from Victoria Hall Methodist Church in Sheffield. Today I’m playing in a concert production of Bizet’s Carmen. Wonderful music.
Anyone who knows me or who reads this blog will gather that I seem to get into scrapes whenever I have a gig in Sheffield. What is it about this city? Why are its streets so confusing for sat-navs and AA route planners alike? Well, I made it to the rehearsal (just) and am now waiting for the concert.
In times gone by this would be an excellent pub opportunity. But, in the spirit of frugality I’ve brought my own dinner (salad wraps of course), my ipad to play on, and a book to read. The only other people to have this brilliant idea are at least fifty years older than me – oh dear. Also, I don’t drink that much anymore – my wallet can’t afford it and my brain can’t handle it as well as it could when I was a student.
Yesterday I was in Leeds playing Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, an absolutely brilliant piece, incredibly uplifting. I mean uplifting in a very literal sense here – we had to heave two harps onto one of the risers in Leeds Town Hall. Once we were there though, we had an excellent view and I would guess that the sound of the harps would carry much better from our raised vantage point. This was a ‘pub and meal between rehearsal and concert’ gig, mainly because some college friends were there and I also couldn’t resist the siren-call of Thai Green Curry.
So that’s this weekend. Next weekend I’m over in Scunthorpe playing Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius. Long drive, but good music.
The legal dispute I alluded to in my last post has still not been resolved, and just to warn you, there will be a big rant coming when it’s over.
There’s nothing else to report at this point. I’m seeing that as a good thing. I’m booked every weekend for at least one gig until the end of May, I have a big thick pile of music to be practising, and my private teaching in between. Things seem to be ticking along very nicely. This makes for a slightly dull blog post but in real life it’s great. On days with no gigs I can practise in the morning, do emails and admin in the afternoon and spend the evening cooking dinner and relaxing, it’s lovely.
There are exciting summer plans this year for my harp quartet CLOUDS. That’s coming up in the next post.
Until then, wishing you all the best,
Angelina x