A Civilised Charm

As the sun melts the snow in the surrounding Cambridgeshire countryside I thought I would see what the internet has to offer regarding the history of Lichfield.

"In 1776 Dr Samuel Johnson took his friend Boswell to Lichfield to show him

"genuine civilised life in an English provincial town". The description still

rings true today, for although Lichfield has grown considerably, it still

retains its civilised charm and many of the fine buildings at the heart of the

City, including the house in which Johnson was born, have remained largely

unchanged over the intervening centuries." www.lichfield.gov.uk

This description conjures up the most quintessential image of a very charming place and despite the snow and cold temperature forecast I am really excited about meeting and chatting to the people who come along to this evenings event at the Lichfield Garrick Theatre.

I love the spontaneity of these events and find each one takes a new turn, a different direction and a chance to really think about who the audience are and what they experience from me.
It can be a very scary process, opening oneself up in this way. So far audiences have been very kind and considerate and I hope the genuine civilised folk of Lichfield will bring along their charm this evening.
I will pack my car with as many items of interest I can possibly squeeze in and hope the colours, sounds and instruments will work their charm!

Red Letter Day

I have just used the term Red Letter Day on my Facebook account to announce the fact that my new style website goes live today. After I pressed send I realised that I did not truly know why we use the term.
So I looked it up and found to my surprise that it has a very interesting history.
According to Wikepedia "A red letter day (sometimes hyphenated as red-letter day or called scarlet day in academia) is any day of special significance. The term originates from Medieval church calendars. Illuminated manuscripts often marked initial capitals and highlighted words in red ink, known as rubrics. The First Council of Nicaea in 325 decreed the saints' days, feasts and other holy days, which came to be printed on church calendars in red.
The term came into wider usage with the appearance in 1549 of the first Book of Common Prayer in which the calendar showed special holy days in red ink. Many current calendars have special dates and holidays such as Sundays, Christmas Day and Midsummer Day rendered in red colour instead of black.
On red letter days, judges of the English High Court (Queen's Bench Division) wear, at sittings of the Court of Law, their scarlet robes (See court dress). Also in the United Kingdom, other civil dates have been added to the original religious dates. These include anniversaries of the Monarch's birthday, official birthday, accession and coronation.
In the universities of the UK, red letter days are called scarlet days. On such days, doctors of the university may wear their scarlet 'festal' or full dress gowns instead of their undress ('black') gown. This is more significant for the ancient universities such as Oxford and Cambridge where academic dress is worn almost daily; the black undress gown being worn on normal occasions as opposed to the bright red gowns. Since most universities now only use academic dress on graduation day (where doctors always wear scarlet), the significance of scarlet days has all but disappeared."
I hope like me you enjoy discovering snippets of detail that seem to be lost amongst our busy lives. Reminders of how traditions are created and how our daily routines and actions evolve using remnants of the past.
I am feeling very cheeky now! I quite like the term scarlet days it feels liberating and risque so I am going to wear red today to match my exhilarating mood - I hope you have a reason to be 'Scarlet' today and very much look forward to your comments.

How to build a great venue

As I prepare to perform Bela Bartók's Concerto for two pianos and percussion with my esteemed colleagues Janet Fulton, Noriko Ogawa and Philip Smith I am reminded of the time when I performed this piece with Sir Georg Solti

This video clip http://bit.ly/yqEh13 is a documentary of a very early performance of the Bartók with Sir Georg, older video's like this always set my staff off in fits of giggles when they hear my younger, girlie voice! I can remember how deeply embarrassed I felt when I arrived late to the session! A lesson I have never forgotten!

In Manchester we are about to perform this piece at the beautifully crafted Bridgewater Hall and I was interested to read about the history of the Hall and in particular how it was constructed. I was unaware for example that the Hall is 'neither concrete nor steel-framed, but is mostly formed from solid, reinforced concrete, moulded and cast like a vast sculpture'. I like this idea of moulding and casting a building it feels holistic is some way and wholesome. Apparently this provides the Hall with an acoustic ideal of enormous density and mass.
The roof is also quite unique in that it hovers above the building, weightless and the entire structure floats free of the ground on almost 'three hundred, earthquake-proof isolation bearings or giant springs' - now that invokes the most amazing mental image! The article also states the Hall is built this way to ensure the 'Hall’s carefully designed acoustic is protected from all outside noise and vibration'.
Well of course vibration is key to my ability to feel sound. I am intrigued by the way this building is 'crafted' to keep outside noise from entering in and inside noise from venturing out. My own sound world is heavily dependant on my body acting as a resonating chamber. Over the years I have developed a high degree of sensitivity to vibration enabling my body to identify felt sounds. I often describe my body as one huge ear.
Have you tried 'feeling' sound? Have you visited environments where you have been able to connect with the acoustics through vibration. I would be very interested in your experiences and welcome your thoughts.

'Just Listen' in 3D!

Happy New Year,
January for me is often an extremely busy Month. However I also appreciate the return to normality and the quiet after the Christmas celebrations. If I have the chance I like to try and take time, before the business of touring begins, to get my head around the schedule for the forthcoming year. I have been told that some people think January is a bit of an anti-climax after all the hustle and bustle of the December but for me it is a wonderful time to reflect and consider the projects I will be involved in throughout the year.

This period is a time of working out, evaluating and planning for the year ahead and one of my new projects is titled 'Just Listen'. This project is currently being developed by Brad Lisle and his team in Canada and is intended for the 3D IMAX cinemas and the world wide web. The idea is to investigate and present the science of sound. I am honoured to be part of this project because I am fascinated by so many facets of the natural world and have always wondered about the sound affects on and within the unconscious brain.

Since the onset of my deafness I have explored, and continue to explore, the body's ability to 'feel' sound. Our world is about vibration and as the sound waves vibrate around us it is possible to feel the impact physically. For example it always amazes me when I am on an aeroplane with a bottle of water and as the plane vibrates the water jiggles around in the bottle. When I clasp the bottle I can feel the water moving around.

The project has already begun to change the way I experience the natural world around me. Over the Christmas break I managed to take time out just to walk through the woods and lanes close to where I live. As I wandered my thoughts turned to the countless creatures that would be hibernating in the undergrowth, the birds building nests and the squirrels darting around the fallen leaves foraging for food. I became immersed in the 'feeling' of the winter sun on my skin, the wind brushing my hair and my boots crunching the broken twigs beneath my feet. The intensity was warm and wholesome.

I would be interested to hear what positive thoughts you have for your New Year and if you have any ideas about the 'science of sound' in the natural world.

Mummy I want a drum for Christmas

When your child asks for a drum for Christmas - rather than run a mile! consider this

 Prim by the Icelandic composer Askell Masson

My first drum and practice pad

Letter to Santa

When I was a child I wanted a musical instrument for Christmas. Now I am an adult I would like every child to have the opportunity to play and hopefully enjoy music regardless of culture, ability, crede or social circumstances. http://www.youtube.com/user/dameevelynglennie

So please Santa do your best despite the world recession, greed and poverty.

What would you ask Santa for?

What pops your Cork?

It is a glorious day here in Cork, Ireland. The sun is shining and I am feeling great! I hope you are experiencing this wonderful weather so late in November and that you are able to feel the warmth of the sunshine on your face before it disappears for the day.

Corcaigh (the Irish spelling for Cork) is thought to be the real capital of Ireland by those who inhabit this beautiful city. From my hotel on the Quay over looking the River Lee I can see a very vibrant and stunning sight and it all looks very exciting to me and I cannot wait to take a closer look before I begin rehearsing.

I am told this is the Isle of Shamrock and Leprechauns who like a drop of home brew now and again. Apparently 'they never become so drunk that the hand which holds the hammer becomes unsteady and their shoemaker's work affected'. I hope this works for me too because I definitely feel in high spirits today!

Cork is the home of so much inspirational musical influences including the Cork School of Music where I will be performing later today and I hope you will find time to join me.