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 | | | Added: 04 Jan 2013 | Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a brilliant time over the holidays :)
It’s been a while since I last posted, once again time has flown by with a really busy few months. I’m now almost halfway through the second year of my degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and since it’s a four year course I guess that means I’m almost halfway through the whole thing! I’m still really enjoying it and all the challenges it brings.
Recently I’ve been focusing on my own compositions and arrangements. Some of my new work is inspired by Gamrie (in the photo to the left) and Fraserburgh in the north east of Scotland, where my parents grew up. As well as the beautiful scenery, I’ve been writing tunes that reflect my childhood memories of those places and family events. It’s almost like having a musical autobiography :)
My bagpipe lessons are going really well, it’s absolutely my new favourite thing (apart from the clarsach of course...!) Hoping to get a full set of bagpipes soon-ish, can’t wait! I’ve taken some of the piping tunes that I’ve heard and arranged them for the clarsach. I love the ornamentation used in pipe tunes, and it’s been a lot of fun trying to imitate the sound on the clarsach.
Me and my friend Amanda (who also studies at RCS) have started a clarsach / fiddle duo and we’re having so much fun with it. We have our first public performance this month at a Burns event, the first of many I hope!
So with lots of exciting musical things happening I’m looking forward to what 2013 has in store :)
| | |  | | | Added: 16 Sep 2012 | Can’t believe the summer is just about over, the last couple of months have flown by. I’m really looking forward to starting 2nd year at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in a couple of weeks, I’ve missed it!
After a really busy few months of weddings and playing I took a wee break to Berlin for a few days. I think the last time I wrote I was trying to decide which concerts to go to, but as it turned out I ended up not really choosing at all and just going to all the ones I wanted to! That’s what holidays are for, treating yourself, aren’t they?! :) I went to two concerts at the Philarmonie and one at the Konzerthaus, two very different venues but both with incredible performances. I also went to a brilliant jazz session at B Flat, a small venue where the audience is literally just a few metres away from the stage.
Next to the Philarmonie there’s a musical instrument museum which was fascinating, there were 5 harps there from the 1700s and 1800s and still in really good condition. There’s so much to see and do in Berlin, and I’d love to go back again some time soon. Funny that as soon as you come back from holiday you start thinking about your next one... :)
I’m also now the proud owner of a chanter and all ready for my very first bagpipe lesson tomorrow! I’ve always loved the sound of the pipes, and after hearing the pipe bands at the championships at Glasgow Green in August I decided that I’d give it a go. So now with my piano, two harps, two guitars, chanter and other musical bits and pieces it’s almost like I’m starting a musical instrument museum of my own. I wonder what my next one will be... any suggestions are welcome haha! | | |  | | | Added: 22 Jul 2012 | The summer seems to be going so quickly! I’ve been out and about playing at lots of lovely venues recently and I’m looking forward to next week when I’ll be playing at weddings in the beautiful One Devonshire Gardens (Glasgow) and Edinburgh Castle.
I’m enjoying having a wee break from studying (for now!) and it’s been great to have more time to work on new material - some traditional tunes and songs, as well as more new wedding requests. More sound clips and videos to come soon hopefully :)
Also looking forward to hearing lots of brilliant music at the Edinburgh Fringe in August, and at Musikfest Berlin in September... The only problem is trying to decide what concerts to go to, there are so many to choose from!
Hope everyone’s having a great summer :) | | |  | | | Added: 09 Jun 2012 | My busy summer wedding season started today with a lovely ceremony at Airth Castle in Stirlingshire. I’m looking forward to all the weddings over the next few months, and to playing at other beautiful venues, including St Margaret’s Chapel at Edinburgh Castle :)
If there’s a particular song that a couple would like for their wedding I’m happy to arrange it for the clarsach where possible. Recently I’ve done ’Marry You’ by Bruno Mars and ’Viva La Vida’ by Coldplay. If anyone has any suggestions about what songs they’d like to hear on the clarsach, I’d love to hear them! | | | | | Goodbye First Year! :) | | Added: 02 Jun 2012 | Yesterday I had my last exam of my 1st year of a four year BEd Music degree that I’m doing at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. It’s been a year of hard work but lots of fun, both at RCS and on placement in schools. I took my clarsach into the primary school I taught in and the pupils were fascinated by it! They asked lots of brilliant questions about it, some easier to answer than others - it took me a wee second to work out an answer to a p1 girl’s question ’Why is it so beautiful?’ :)
I’m looking forward to 2nd year already! | | |  | New website launched | | Added: 01 May 2012 | I’ve commissioned a new website that will be much easier to update myself and keep current.
I’ll add new videos and info as time goes on :) | | |
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