Classical Brits and circus skills

Phew! The last 6 months…..

We released our Elgar and Bax CD ourselves. Victoria Hart’s record label ‘Discrete’ VERY kindly let us use their label, and I scrambled around trying to sort out everything from MCPS licenses to distribution. The distributor I found was so fantastic that she didn’t even flinch when we decided at the very last minute to release a Christmas CD on the same day, for Breakthrough Breast Cancer. This meant getting our arranger, Carlo Martelli, to arrange 12 Christmas carols in a week – he was still writing them as we started recording! Due to an accident with the heating in the church we were recording in, my brother had to come on a mercy mission with as many woolly jumpers and fingerless gloves he could find; it was truly a wintery recording, but a huge success on Classic FM and for Breakthrough.

We promoted the CD in Harrods in December and were also invited play at the opening of the Harrods Sale the day after Boxing Day.














January saw us getting some fantastic reviews for our Elgar/Bax recording :
‘Intoxicating warmth and emotional spontaneity’ Strad Magazine
‘an unqualified success – a real must-have!’ Music Web International (Disc of the Month) ‘plenty of energy, precision and clarity, with an impressive sense of lively rapport between the four players.’ BBC Music Magazine (4 stars)
‘Assured performances’ The Guardian
And some amusing ones…'The four Armani- clad babes who grace the cover, two pages of the booklet and the CD itself, and who look suspiciously like a quartet put together by Simon Cowell, turn out to be an ensemble of real depth and musical distinction. With a light, beautifully integrated sound, their account of Bax's First Quartet is a real winner (try the sorrowful slow movement or the lively finale). They bring to the exactly contemporaneous Elgar (1918) a grace and emotional intensity that is quite the equal of other more established quartets'
Classic FM Magazine (4 stars)

Ha! Perhaps I should send that to Simon Cowell?!

I had the awful news in February that my wonderful violin professor and friend, Howard Davis, had passed away. I was honoured that our quartet was asked to play at his funeral. Howard would have laughed if he could have seen my face when it suddenly dawned on me that it was the worst possible audience – a room full of violinists!! We have dedicated our latest CD to him and miss him terribly.

Later on in February we gave a rather unusual recital in Poole, playing a piano quintet, voice quintet, saxophone quintet and viola quintet all in one concert, which also involved me knitting and playing cards on stage. The idea was that we had invited friends round for some tea and quintets and the audience could eavesdrop on our rehearsal. So the stage was set up like my flat, with clothes and books everywhere, and even a pink telephone next to my feet and a few realistic suitcases waiting to be unpacked. Alison, our pianist, sat knitting on the sofa on stage until it was her turn, and we even had a game of cards on stage in the interval, before wandering over to our chairs to start the 2nd half!



Piano quintets with Alison Farr











After the success of our Christmas arrangements, we wanted to release another CD of well-known tunes in gorgeous arrangements by Carlo; one that would sell all year round and not just at Christmas! The result was ‘Dreaming’, the theme of the CD being moons, stars and night-time. We had a disaster with the cover. We had a wonderful photo shoot all planned, but poor Bryony got food poisoning at the last minute. 2 days later, Bry was still really sick, but my some miracle we managed to create a cover photo just a few hours before our deadline. We asked a photographer friend to meet us on Waterloo Bridge at 10 pm. Bryony couldn’t stand up for very long so we leapt out of a taxi, stood for just 20 mins with our backs to the camera (no time for make up and Bry looked green anyway), tried to keep hold of our instruments (it was the night a hurricane was forecast) and by some miracle actually got a shot that was cover worthy!



















Also so far this year..

Our Quartet were nominated for a Classical Brit Award, had a photoshoot for Hello Magazine, and an interview on Classic FM TV (see YouTube).



I went to the Library of Congress, Washington D.C to explore the Gershwin archives, then on my way back stopped off in New York to watch Aretha Franklin at the Radio City Music Hall.



















I have recorded with Hayley Westenra, Andrew Lloyd Webber, KanYe West, Adele, Kasabian and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

I performed with Sir Willard White (Norwich), Victoria Hart (Warsaw), and Adele (on tour around the UK and also in Paris, Holland and Dublin). Also performed the Mendelssohn Octet twice with the Emperor Quartet.

Played on the X Factor, performed in ‘Chess’ in the Albert Hall, and also played in ‘I’ll Do Anything’; Andrew Lloyd Webbers’s latest BBC1 talent show.


Oh – and most exciting - I went to a circus skills class for a hen party and learnt to juggle.

Our Quartet schedule has been pretty intense this year, but last weekend won the prize – I gave a duo recital with Alison Farr in Somerset, and the quartet joined us for a quintet recital the following night, (standing ovations both nights!) We then had to drive from Somerset to Lincolnshire for a quartet recital the next day, and then drive back through the night to London where we had a recording session for Lloyd Webber in Abbey Road at 10 am!!
I did come home with 2 bottles of pink champagne and some lovely flowers…. what more could a girl want?!