I received this magnificent bouquet at yesterday's AGM of the Royal Society of Musicians , stepping down after ten years as the Society's President. It really has been a pleasure to fulfil this largely ceremonial post, but also a great honour. RSM was founded in 1738 by George Frideric Handel and colleagues in response to cases of poverty resulting from ill health amongst fellow musicians. Generations of musicians have taken up the baton, and the Society is now particularly w

December is here, and having in the past written a few brief Christmas-adjacent choral numbers, I've been getting news of numerous carol concerts happening everywhere. The repertoire is often surprisingly imaginative, and it delights me yearly that choirs of all kinds are still up for this - and their audiences too.   A handful that I'll be going to around London illustrate the considerable range of this seasonal "artform". On Thursday 11th December in Conway Hall, Electric

I am presently en route to Warsaw for a short residency at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music . I hope to post more later about my visit. There will be a generously programmed concert of six of my chamber pieces ( Monday 24th November, 19.00 in UMFC's Concert Hall) followed on Tuesday morning (25th, 10am) by a composition workshop. I'll be discussing some impressive scores by UMFC's student composers. Thanks in advance to UMFC for this interesting invitation.   PICTURED