Category: Events

  • Tate Modern – Sehgal

    Seeing ‘Philadelphia, Here I come’ (Donmar Warehouse) preceded by ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ (National Theatre) the day before encouraged me to ask lots of questions about theatre. Nothing too esoteric, but after seeing plenty of theatre over the past few years I could see how much boundaries are negated in…

  • Three days in Rio

    I can’t believe three days is up. I arrived in Rio 9.30 pm local time Friday and pretty much got to work on the Saturday helping with the final preparations and even devising and recording new material. Saturday ended with the first performance of work, a piece combining visuals, music, acting and movement exploring the…

  • “The Famous Mr Bach”: Concert talk on Johann Sebastian Bach

    ~ Below is the text, slightly edited, of the concert talk I gave at North London Collegiate School for a Bach Concert on 8 February 2012 ~   ‘Johann Sebastian Bach belongs to a family that seems to have received a love and aptitude for music as a gift of nature to all its members in common’…

  • Are conductors necessary?

    Haydn’s last visit in 1794-95 [to Great Britain] had marked both the climax of London’s public concert life and the beginning of its decline. The founding of the Philharmonic Society in 1813 by a group of professional musicians was a rare flash of light in an otherwise sombre scene. Although it helped to make London…

  • Charm is the word of 2012

    Catching up with the latest issue of the Monocle – February edition – and Andrew Tuck’s editorial draws attention to charm as the word for 2012: “Honesty, integrity, simplicity, durability, tactility are words that help all manner of firms thrive but oddly they never seem to make it past the door of a business school.…

  • Tate: Gerhard Richter Panorama

    Some art seems to be the visualisation of music; Kandinsky comes to mind as an artist-musician who indeed tried to accomplish such a synthesis. Wandering through the Tate’s beautifully curated exhibition of so much of Richter’s work compelled to consider musical counterparts; the realism of his painting over photographs – perhaps akin to Berio painting…

  • Grief – Mike Leigh

    I am never deluded to think that when I watch a play that is in any way ‘real’ but conversely I want to be willed to believe. Full stop. I know they are actors, on a stage, but whatever happens during the play I want to be convinced and unquestioning of the play’s ‘reality’. I…

  • London Road to Juniper Street

    It’s been a long few days writing songs for my musical theatre work. I’m starting to get a sense of it’s bigger shape but there is still some way to go. Initially I was fearful of what musical language I might use and I craved some kind of model for the work I would write.…

  • Can art speak without technique?

    After spending an hour with Ruth walking around the Royal Academy’s 2011 Summer Exhibition we were left rather speechless. The most poignant work being the photography in the Wohl room. These works demonstrated such incredible technique which was used to create works of real imagination. Skill was at play in these works. Wandering through the…

  • RA Summer Exhibition 2011

    I miss the rabbit from last year but this is rather an interesting take on stained-glass. Not that it is stained-glass…