Hi all!

Am just home after a weekend away along the coast doing singing for various different people. Left early sat morn and am just now home and ready for bed. Tomorow back to the shop for the week. excepting Wednesday doing more session singing on my day off.

The music projects this weekend where not as fruitful as i would have liked but i am still going to carry on with them. I believe its only the beginning and that artistic ventures take time to grow. I just have to be patient and have faith.
Though inspiration can hit quickly and we can all get excited its the grafting and crafting that takes me the most energy and the longest time, but thats how it works. The same for many things in life.
Whilst sitting in the garden i always end up thinking about how everything grows at different times and paces and how the seasons work. We are not machines and neither is creativity. It ebbs and flows like the elements.
I believe the forum will work but i think it is early days and we must patient. It takes people time to become accustomed to new things and ways of communicating. I think we should persist and it will come into its own being.
Hope this doesn’t sound to much like a hippy ramble. Its how i feel and i am trying to be honest rather than be silent which would be my other stance to take.

But on this topic i cant be silent i think it is very important we don’t give up.

Hope this finds everyone well.

I’m going to bed with my hot water bottle.

April showers
Nicolette

Dear Augusto, Nicolette,

Thanks for your two messages, with two perspectives.  Sorry not to have joined in up till now.  It would be pointless to apologise for being 74, can’t help it.  But my “creative endeavours” recently, plus all the extras that life contains (or throws up) have taken almost every ounce of energy.  And it took me a long time to-day to figure out how to read the message I’m looking for, then how/where to reply!!  It’s not the fault of the website, (which I admire in its potential) I just need more practice.

Speaking of which, practice (piano variety) has been a major necessity for several months, at a level not attempted for a long while.  Moving to a new area 2 yrs ago where I knew scarcely anyone, I eventually met 2 skilled and active musicians, violinist & cellist, both quite a few yrs older than me, who had sadly lost the pianist of their trio (brain tumour).  They have become good friends, but I soon discovered how little I really knew of the repertoire for piano trios, and how demanding a lot of them are.  The song accompaniments I’ve played for Sylvie Soderlund and other singers are demanding also, but on the whole each one lasts for 3-4 minutes, with some seconds to take breath before the next.  We have recently given our first concert at a “retirement village” near Cranleigh, Surrey.  Music by Mozart, Frank Bridge, and Mendelssohn (born 200 yrs ago in 1809).  The Mendelssohn lasts close on 30 mins, most of it fast and furious, ex. for a seductively melodic slow movt.  Happily the audience was delighted and want us to return!

Nicolette:  Hang in there and trust (your good advice to yourself) is spot on for us all.  I hope to hear you somewhere some time.

Jonathan Sparey (2nd violin, Fitzwilliam Qt) and his wife Elizabeth (pianist, who is also Head of History Dept in a large Yorkshire school) will perform in Keswick in August with Sylvie and myself
in a combined programme.  The event is arranged by Jonathan’s mother, just turned 90.

I won’t promise to send more messages of this length. This is just to “show willing”.  Maybe the need of the website now is to collect more biographies?  Ouch!  What’s that about starting with oneself?…

Kathleen Dodds