I entered the 2020 King Lear competition and, most unexpectedly, I made it to the short list in the Chairman’s Prize category – 22 out of 3000 entries of which three were for music. Here’s the link. https://www.kinglearprizes.org.uk/chairmans?fbclid=IwAR3tt98PgZ7pAF7kDehVq-gJbMMYybu9naI2Cm7Zco0euluuF5w-lYS_UOY
Continue readingSeveral additions to my YouTube channel
While incarcerated in the virus vault I found myself making various noises to pass the time. Here are some musical bats from my belfry.
Continue readingAction at a distance
Veronique Bouchet and I have collaborated remotely on this song. Here’s the story behind it. In August last year I took part in the Singing & Songwriting Retreat run by Paola Vera and Pete Churchill in the Gironde, south-west France. I was looking through mementos of that inspirational event. One of the exercises was a brainstorm session in which we listed…
Continue readingPlant blindness
Helen Ougham, Dawn Sanders and I contributed a paper today (21 May) at ‘The fierce urgency of now: Navigating paradoxes in sustainability education’. (SHE Conference 2020) hosted online by Canterbury Christ Church University. It’s on the subject of Plant Blindness. The presentation is available online (don’t know for how long). If you’re interested, here’s the…
Continue readingThe Splendid Splice – some thoughts about music in crisis
2020 is turning out to be the dawning of the Age of Isolation. Musicians who perform and teach are having a tough time. Music is traditionally a social activity, but the community of players, students and audiences has been shattered, maybe irreparably. Musicians have responded by exploring alternative ways to communicate with each other and…
Continue readingMore sounds from behind closed doors
I was looking for something in the Fossil Songs file when I came across this specimen of disposable compositions from early in the millennium, and with plenty of time on my hands, heaven knows, I did this.
Continue readingI remember Aberystwyth
Exiled for almost 6 weeks, with no prospect of returning to the Land of Cymric Mists and Bara Brith for at least a month. So here’s a little memory of a tiny, not very beautiful nook in the old town that I’m quite fond of. The Nanoband has…errmmm…disbanded, due to artistic and personality differences and…
Continue readingBe careful, or else…
It could happen to you – by me and me, lazing on the deck in the sunshine.
Continue readingSea fever
This is Nance Wilson singing John Ireland’s setting of the famous John Masefield poem. I’ve reharmonized it for the piano accompaniment. Nance did it in one take on a flying visit from NZ to my studio in Kent. Music of the hemispheres.
Continue readingNew album by Veronique Bouchet and Sid Thomas
A CD comprising chansons in a variety of styles and moods. We were privileged to be mentored by ‘The Divas’ – the great Tina May and the superb Anita Wardell. Eventually tracks will be available for download. See the Bouchet-Thomas web page for the latest news.
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