Well, there’s been plenty of variety in the past three weeks! If you are playing, teaching, managing, planning, supporting others and staying in touch with your family, what can you expect? On 17 November I was in Rotterdam to kick off the week and returned on the 18th  to attend the wonderful concert of the Schubert Ensemble at Leighton House, surrounded by the stunning exhibition currently running of Leighton and contemporaries. I was teaching my students at Birmingham Conservatoire on the 20th, back to Rotterdam on the 24th for a week which highlighted a most enjoyable Open Podium (see Post on Open Podiums) and Colin Currie’s concert in De Doelen with the Codarts Percussion Ensemble (27 November).

I had to miss the Codarts Young Talent Orchestra under Mikhail Zemtsov on 29 November but was in Rotterdam for the second Chamber Music Concert of the year on 3 December which included the Dvorak A major Piano Quintet (Natasha Morozova, Maria Bykova, Ron Ephrat, Monique Heidema, Sander Sittig) and Beethoven’s Septet with Benzion Shamir leading Ron Ephrat, Monique Heidema, Peter Leerdam, Nancy Braithwaite, Wendy Leliveld and Frans Berkhout. This was the first time that I had heard Benzion Shamir play and this made me wistful that I had never heard the Daniel String Quartet live during his many years as leader.

In between all these things, I have been involved in helping get my daughter Lizzie to all her violin playing (Birmingham Conservatoire Young Strings)  and singing (CBSO Children’s Chorus) rehearsals and engagements – all very exciting.

Time this week has been taken up with planning. We are now getting clear on the Codarts season for 2015 – 2016 and  I have also been communicating with Port Erin over chairing the Tertis International Viola Prize in March 2016. Performance plans are coming together for next year too.

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