Well, here we are at the start of another season! After a lovely summer holiday with Stephanie and the girls, we head off once more into the unknown... well, not entirely. Wales is pretty tame and civilised these days, and it was a beautiful start to the term. Cowbridge is home to a charming festival and the church was packed to the rafters to welcome us as we began with Lassus' stunning Musica Dei Donum.Last week saw my middle daughter, Lyra, start school, and it's exciting to think of her unlocking the magic of reading and writing over the coming months. It made me think about my musical journey and starting, 30 years ago, at Rochester Cathedral. I'm going back on Saturday for an Old Chorister Reunion (hot on the heels of my 20-year University reunion last weekend) so it's a time of reflection. I do feel very lucky to have enjoyed such a wonderful musical education - if you go through the chorister tradition in the UK you have your magic "10,000 hours" by the time you hit 16 or 16. By comparison, in most other countries even post-doctoral music students don't yet have as much experience. It allows us to teach and pass down the things we've learned, and which now come as second nature to us.Unusually, we're not heading abroad for another 10 days or so. For my part, I appreciate the chance to do more school runs and ease the children into term time without having to telephone from foreign climes. September and October feel slightly like warm-up months before our 50th celebrations kick off in earnest with our US tour in November. That's not to say that the current crop of concerts isn't important - far from it. I'm looking forward to returning to Riga later this month, as well as a quick jaunt to Spain. Wherever we go, I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends and taking to the stage with my colleagues to bring music to the world. Join us if you can!
Well, here we are at the start of another season! After a lovely summer holiday with Stephanie and the girls, we head off once more into the unknown... well, not entirely. Wales is pretty tame and civilised these days, and it was a beautiful start to the term. Cowbridge is home to a charming festival and the church was packed to the rafters to welcome us as we began with Lassus' stunning Musica Dei Donum.Last week saw my middle daughter, Lyra, start school, and it's exciting to think of her unlocking the magic of reading and writing over the coming months. It made me think about my musical journey and starting, 30 years ago, at Rochester Cathedral. I'm going back on Saturday for an Old Chorister Reunion (hot on the heels of my 20-year University reunion last weekend) so it's a time of reflection. I do feel very lucky to have enjoyed such a wonderful musical education - if you go through the chorister tradition in the UK you have your magic "10,000 hours" by the time you hit 16 or 16. By comparison, in most other countries even post-doctoral music students don't yet have as much experience. It allows us to teach and pass down the things we've learned, and which now come as second nature to us.Unusually, we're not heading abroad for another 10 days or so. For my part, I appreciate the chance to do more school runs and ease the children into term time without having to telephone from foreign climes. September and October feel slightly like warm-up months before our 50th celebrations kick off in earnest with our US tour in November. That's not to say that the current crop of concerts isn't important - far from it. I'm looking forward to returning to Riga later this month, as well as a quick jaunt to Spain. Wherever we go, I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends and taking to the stage with my colleagues to bring music to the world. Join us if you can!
Well, here we are at the start of another season! After a lovely summer holiday with Stephanie and the girls, we head off once more into the unknown... well, not entirely. Wales is pretty tame and civilised these days, and it was a beautiful start to the term. Cowbridge is home to a charming festival and the church was packed to the rafters to welcome us as we began with Lassus' stunning Musica Dei Donum.Last week saw my middle daughter, Lyra, start school, and it's exciting to think of her unlocking the magic of reading and writing over the coming months. It made me think about my musical journey and starting, 30 years ago, at Rochester Cathedral. I'm going back on Saturday for an Old Chorister Reunion (hot on the heels of my 20-year University reunion last weekend) so it's a time of reflection. I do feel very lucky to have enjoyed such a wonderful musical education - if you go through the chorister tradition in the UK you have your magic "10,000 hours" by the time you hit 16 or 16. By comparison, in most other countries even post-doctoral music students don't yet have as much experience. It allows us to teach and pass down the things we've learned, and which now come as second nature to us.Unusually, we're not heading abroad for another 10 days or so. For my part, I appreciate the chance to do more school runs and ease the children into term time without having to telephone from foreign climes. September and October feel slightly like warm-up months before our 50th celebrations kick off in earnest with our US tour in November. That's not to say that the current crop of concerts isn't important - far from it. I'm looking forward to returning to Riga later this month, as well as a quick jaunt to Spain. Wherever we go, I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends and taking to the stage with my colleagues to bring music to the world. Join us if you can!
Well, here we are at the start of another season! After a lovely summer holiday with Stephanie and the girls, we head off once more into the unknown... well, not entirely. Wales is pretty tame and civilised these days, and it was a beautiful start to the term. Cowbridge is home to a charming festival and the church was packed to the rafters to welcome us as we began with Lassus' stunning Musica Dei Donum.Last week saw my middle daughter, Lyra, start school, and it's exciting to think of her unlocking the magic of reading and writing over the coming months. It made me think about my musical journey and starting, 30 years ago, at Rochester Cathedral. I'm going back on Saturday for an Old Chorister Reunion (hot on the heels of my 20-year University reunion last weekend) so it's a time of reflection. I do feel very lucky to have enjoyed such a wonderful musical education - if you go through the chorister tradition in the UK you have your magic "10,000 hours" by the time you hit 16 or 16. By comparison, in most other countries even post-doctoral music students don't yet have as much experience. It allows us to teach and pass down the things we've learned, and which now come as second nature to us.Unusually, we're not heading abroad for another 10 days or so. For my part, I appreciate the chance to do more school runs and ease the children into term time without having to telephone from foreign climes. September and October feel slightly like warm-up months before our 50th celebrations kick off in earnest with our US tour in November. That's not to say that the current crop of concerts isn't important - far from it. I'm looking forward to returning to Riga later this month, as well as a quick jaunt to Spain. Wherever we go, I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends and taking to the stage with my colleagues to bring music to the world. Join us if you can!
Well, here we are at the start of another season! After a lovely summer holiday with Stephanie and the girls, we head off once more into the unknown... well, not entirely. Wales is pretty tame and civilised these days, and it was a beautiful start to the term. Cowbridge is home to a charming festival and the church was packed to the rafters to welcome us as we began with Lassus' stunning Musica Dei Donum.Last week saw my middle daughter, Lyra, start school, and it's exciting to think of her unlocking the magic of reading and writing over the coming months. It made me think about my musical journey and starting, 30 years ago, at Rochester Cathedral. I'm going back on Saturday for an Old Chorister Reunion (hot on the heels of my 20-year University reunion last weekend) so it's a time of reflection. I do feel very lucky to have enjoyed such a wonderful musical education - if you go through the chorister tradition in the UK you have your magic "10,000 hours" by the time you hit 16 or 16. By comparison, in most other countries even post-doctoral music students don't yet have as much experience. It allows us to teach and pass down the things we've learned, and which now come as second nature to us.Unusually, we're not heading abroad for another 10 days or so. For my part, I appreciate the chance to do more school runs and ease the children into term time without having to telephone from foreign climes. September and October feel slightly like warm-up months before our 50th celebrations kick off in earnest with our US tour in November. That's not to say that the current crop of concerts isn't important - far from it. I'm looking forward to returning to Riga later this month, as well as a quick jaunt to Spain. Wherever we go, I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends and taking to the stage with my colleagues to bring music to the world. Join us if you can!
Well, here we are at the start of another season! After a lovely summer holiday with Stephanie and the girls, we head off once more into the unknown... well, not entirely. Wales is pretty tame and civilised these days, and it was a beautiful start to the term. Cowbridge is home to a charming festival and the church was packed to the rafters to welcome us as we began with Lassus' stunning Musica Dei Donum.Last week saw my middle daughter, Lyra, start school, and it's exciting to think of her unlocking the magic of reading and writing over the coming months. It made me think about my musical journey and starting, 30 years ago, at Rochester Cathedral. I'm going back on Saturday for an Old Chorister Reunion (hot on the heels of my 20-year University reunion last weekend) so it's a time of reflection. I do feel very lucky to have enjoyed such a wonderful musical education - if you go through the chorister tradition in the UK you have your magic "10,000 hours" by the time you hit 16 or 16. By comparison, in most other countries even post-doctoral music students don't yet have as much experience. It allows us to teach and pass down the things we've learned, and which now come as second nature to us.Unusually, we're not heading abroad for another 10 days or so. For my part, I appreciate the chance to do more school runs and ease the children into term time without having to telephone from foreign climes. September and October feel slightly like warm-up months before our 50th celebrations kick off in earnest with our US tour in November. That's not to say that the current crop of concerts isn't important - far from it. I'm looking forward to returning to Riga later this month, as well as a quick jaunt to Spain. Wherever we go, I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends and taking to the stage with my colleagues to bring music to the world. Join us if you can!
Well, here we are at the start of another season! After a lovely summer holiday with Stephanie and the girls, we head off once more into the unknown... well, not entirely. Wales is pretty tame and civilised these days, and it was a beautiful start to the term. Cowbridge is home to a charming festival and the church was packed to the rafters to welcome us as we began with Lassus' stunning Musica Dei Donum.Last week saw my middle daughter, Lyra, start school, and it's exciting to think of her unlocking the magic of reading and writing over the coming months. It made me think about my musical journey and starting, 30 years ago, at Rochester Cathedral. I'm going back on Saturday for an Old Chorister Reunion (hot on the heels of my 20-year University reunion last weekend) so it's a time of reflection. I do feel very lucky to have enjoyed such a wonderful musical education - if you go through the chorister tradition in the UK you have your magic "10,000 hours" by the time you hit 16 or 16. By comparison, in most other countries even post-doctoral music students don't yet have as much experience. It allows us to teach and pass down the things we've learned, and which now come as second nature to us.Unusually, we're not heading abroad for another 10 days or so. For my part, I appreciate the chance to do more school runs and ease the children into term time without having to telephone from foreign climes. September and October feel slightly like warm-up months before our 50th celebrations kick off in earnest with our US tour in November. That's not to say that the current crop of concerts isn't important - far from it. I'm looking forward to returning to Riga later this month, as well as a quick jaunt to Spain. Wherever we go, I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends and taking to the stage with my colleagues to bring music to the world. Join us if you can!
