Back on Terracotta

My friend came up with a fantastic term for some of the ridiculous things you hear people say on cruise ships: ‘cruisisms’. My favourite cruisism was when a lady on my ship was overheard saying ‘Do you know, I can’t WAIT until Tuesday, when we’ll be back on terracotta’.

Not to make you all jealous, but I have just come back from a trip to Hawaii, Mexico and LA with pianist Alison Farr.

Waikiki Beach..We learned all about the Hawaiian nose-flute. In Hawaiian, ‘Ha’ means ‘breath’, but it also means ‘spirit’. You play the flute with your breath, but lies can be told by the mouth, so they play through the nose to express the spirit.

Our concerts went without a hitch, except during one of my pieces, I had a downwards glissando which I executed perfectly, only to hear a lady in the audience say ‘whoops!’ Oh, and a man came up to me and said ‘I much prefer your hair in your publicity photo’. Another, ‘are you one of the dancers?’ And of course there was the all-time classic cruisism, which comes out every time; ‘does it matter where you put your fingers?’

We visited the world’s most active volcano, but were lucky because it erupted a few days later and lava shot 65 feet into the air just where we were standing!

In Hollywood, we saw Gershwin’s house, and the house where Michael Jackson died. (Is he really dead?)

And witnessed the strange things people do to their dogs.

On a tour of the Warner Brother’s studios, we got to sit on the sofa from ‘Friends’, and saw where the T-Rex had chased Jeff Goldblum. I love Hollywood. Also tried on the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter, but was concerned about my cabin-mate when it declared Alison a ‘Slytherin’!

On the plane on the way home, I realised I was playing on 3 of the recordings on the entertainment menu!

Some points we noticed about the USA.

• There is a profusion of small dogs in ridiculous outfits
• There are truly terrible sweets. Ever tried a Tootsie Roll? YUK! And what is the point of Twizzlers? We definitely do sweets better in the UK.
  
• Terrible television. Is actually exhausting to watch. There are ad breaks every 5 minutes, and the last sentence of the programme is sometimes curtailed in a hurry to get to the ads. There is no jingle to announce the ad breaks, and no announcer to start a new programme. So everything merges into one, and you have to really concentrate to work out that the drug for constipation has nothing to do with the plot of Sex and the City. Then, as you are relieved to find a full uninterrupted 30 minutes of TV programme, you realise its an ‘infomercial’ for a new hair-removal method. With interviews with doctors and scientific diagrams, it is more in depth than a David Attenborough documentary. And the phone number only comes at the very end, without a mention of the price!
• There are awful pharmaceutical adverts; ‘ask you doctor to prescribe you xxxx as your medication for prostate cancer’. Followed by a recall ad; ‘If you were prescribed yyyy as medication for prostate cancer, please consult your doctor immediately – it has been found to cause heartattacks and seizures’ The worst one was an advert recalling hip replacements; ‘if you had a ‘zzzz’ hip replacement, they have been found to be dangerous. They can cause dislocations and even breakages. If you have had one, please get in touch, as you will certainly need a new hip’. (Then, straight after; ‘ if you have been given a faulty hip replacement, then please call this number – you can SUE!’)
• Everyone wears trainers, but no-one walks anywhere.
• There are no bookshops anywhere in LA.
• Everyone is exactly the same shade of blonde.
• The number of calories is written next to every item on every menu, so you end up too scared to order anything.
• And a bizarre thought - my violin is older than the USA.

Back on terracotta..

I had great fun playing at the Asian music awards for Rumer. We each got given a goody bag afterwards, but found it only contained a packet of rice - microwaveable.

It is amazing where your music sometimes ends up – I heard myself on Dancing on Ice; http://entertainment.stv.tv/tv/237432-laura-hamiltons-headbanger-stuns-dancing-on-ice-judges/ and also on 'The Biggest Loser', a weight loss programme on ITV!

Also, I was delighted to find this poster all over Hollywood - I'm playing on the soundtrack.

Some quotes from a review which Alison and I got for a recent concert in Kingswood, Gloucestershire..

'Violinist Kerenza Peacock and pianist Alison Farr presented an interesting programme well suited to these surroundings. There was a full "house" and the audience was a most enthusiastic and obviously appreciative one'

(In Elgar's Violin Sonata) 'I shall remember those rich violin tones at the opening of the Romance section and the mercurial mood changes in the first and last movements'

'...a gripping performance from these two young, extremely talented performers... I enjoyed this recital immensely' By Donald Hollins

Playing Piazzolla’s ‘Oblivion’ recently at a TED conference at King’s Place, conducted by Goldie.