Geneva Airport – the most confusing place in the world?

When it comes to travelling via an airport (and leaving queueing aside which can be a bit boring and frustrating) I don’t generally find it to be a particularly stressful experience – it’s usually quite clear where you are and where you need to be.  Not so at Geneva airport; French side, Swiss side, arrivals, departures – none of these things have signs or directions!

After Sam’s show with Les Arts Florissants in Versailles, we hired a car in Paris for a trip to the Alps, and arranged to drop the car back off a week later at Geneva airport (French side).  We used SatNav and directions from several péage workers and nevertheless ended up at the car return depot on the Swiss side of the airport.  This was rather inconvenient as I was cutting it rather close on my flight time and we weren’t insured to drive out of France – oops.  Still, there were no signs that we’d actually crossed a border so how were we to know?

With some incorrect directions from the Alamo staff (Swiss side) we eventually made it to Alamo on the French side, hurrah!  We were then directed into the arrivals hall of the airport where we were swiftly told to leave the airport again and enter through departures, not arrivals. Easier said than done when there are no signs anywhere to tell you where to go.  So, now running through the airport ‘backwards’ (from arrivals on the French side to departures on the Swiss side), I said a hasty goodbye to Sam (who went to catch his train to St Gallen for his next patch of work – Purcell’s Fairy Queen) and queue-jumped my way through two bag-drops and security to run to the gate, in time to board my flight back to London.

Signage in France (and apparently Switzerland) is generally lacking clarity according to my recent travels through the region.  Even the signs to different runs on the Alpe d’Huez pistes were pretty poor, and the lack of markers ensured Sam and I took on some rather tricky off-piste boarding completely by accident (along with some very confused and terrified-looking French skiers).

We did have an amazing week’s snowboarding in Alpe d’Huez: 250km of piste, including the longest black run in the world, sunny days and a fabulous chalet (Chalet Lingayoni) where the other guests were great fun and the staff were fantastic.  Nick is a trained chef and whipped us up a new culinary masterpiece every night, and Ellie took care of us so well we didn’t have to think about a single thing while we were away. We will definitely be returning for more fun on the slopes here!

All in all Sam and I enjoyed an amazing 10 day trip from Paris and Versailles to Alpe d’Huez and back to Geneva (French & Swiss sides) with the exception of the Geneva airport drama and an episode with snow chains that, while tricky at the time, was well worth the effort when just over a meter of snow fell the night before we had to drive out of the Alps!  We were gutted that we didn’t get to enjoy all that powder (there had been no fresh snow fall while we were there) but we did partake in an epic snowball fight with the other guests at our chalet and the staff, so we didn’t miss out on all the fun.  And my new board/bindings combo is AWESOME!!

Les Arts Florissants – La Descente d’Orphée aux enfers and Venus & Adonis

Last week I travelled to Paris to meet up with Sam who had been working there since 27th December with Baroque ensemble ‘Les Arts Florissants‘ on two pieces: ‘La Descente d’Orphée aux enfers’ (Charpontier) and ‘Venus & Adonis’ (Blow).  Having not long returned from Dubai, squeezed in a trip to the country to visit my dog (who has been on her holidays with my friend Susan and her dog Ollie while I was away), celebrated my Dad’s 60th Birthday with a big party, done two days teaching at school and sorted out the whole snowboard debacle, I was nonetheless keen to get off travelling again!  It had been two weeks since I’d seen Sam and I was really looking forward to spending some time with him and seeing his show.

I arrived at Cité de la Musique in Paris half way through the second act of the their show there on the Wednesday evening, having travelled across London and Paris with a suitcase and snowboard, ready for my trip ahead.  They were streaming live video of the show on tv screens outside the auditorium but I had a ticket for the last night of the production so avoided watching any of the show and waited for them to finish before meeting Sam and the rest of the cast backstage, then heading to a local bar for some drinks and a bite to eat.

I’m glad that I waited to see the last night of the show (and many thanks to Les Arts Florissants for my ticket as I know they were in limited supply).  It was in the theatre at the Chateau de Versailles, a truly spectacular building and gardens, and the theatre was a wonderful venue from an audience perspective – apparently the acoustics on stage were not ideal for the singers, but the sound coming into the auditorium was fabulous.  The orchestra were onstage too, not in a pit, and the two productions, each around an hour long, were semi-staged.  I was pleased that they had put the pieces on in the order they had – La Descente d’Orphée is really rather dark, and Venus & Adonis made for a much lighter second half (despite the ending).

So, another trip made to a place I had not visited before (Versailles) to see Sam performing, and then on to the Alps for a week of snowboarding with my new board & bindings!

A lesson in customer service

I had an interesting experience at TSA (The Snowboard Asylum – Ellis Brigham) a couple of weeks ago.  After spending several hours researching snowboards on the net, I made my choice and opted for the Bataleon Distortia 11/12, 149cm.  Having called the store to check the size and make sure my new Burton Stiletto bindings were compatible, I placed the board on reserve on a Sunday morning to be collected on the following Tuesday afternoon.

When I got to the store it turned out that there is a 24 hour limit on reserves (which I hadn’t been told) and my board had been sent to another store for another customer. I was gutted.  The store said they could order in another board for me but it would take up to a week and I was leaving for France the next day.  They suggested other (more expensive) Bataleon boards that they did have in stock. They even offered to loan me one of last season’s Bataleon boards free of charge for my trip and order my board for me for when I got back.  However, having made my decision on that board, I wasn’t about to change my mind.

I’ve always found the staff at TSA to be very knowledgable on everything from kit to resorts, and on that day they were also very helpful – after I’d been informed there was a board in the Milton Keynes store I asked them to have that one couriered to my home; the manager said he’d make some enquiries and see what he could come up with.  His solution to the problem was to put the board in Milton Keynes on hold for me, send one of his team up there on the train and have them bring it back then deliver it to me at school the following morning.

In terms of customer service, that’s pretty good!  Admittedly, it was the store’s error that my board was not kept for me, but I really admire a business that goes all out to honour it’s contract with you when they’ve had a mis-hap at their end.  TSA have made an even-more-loyal customer of me thanks to their problem-solving and getting my board to me as promised!

Lone travels in Dubai

This January was the first time I can remember being, for all intents and purposes, alone abroad and entertaining myself.  I used to think that it would be very easy to pass time on holiday by yourself; after all, sunbathing and swimming are hardly restricted to being group activities. However, having spent a short amount of time alone in Dubai, I quickly realised that this is not necessarily the case.  Sure, it’s easy to while away a few hours on the beach or by the pool reading a book (or, in my case, working on my accounts in order to submit my tax return in time), but what happens after that?  I found myself wandering around, enjoying the sights but wishing I had someone to share them with, and knowing all too well that there were some loved-ones who would definitely have jumped at a chance to be there with me!

One thing I found most disconcerting was being somewhere in the world where I have no understanding of the native language, and only occasional wifi access to help me out with my general queries.  I had been staying in a friend’s apartment while he was away, so there was no hotel concierge to offer advice.  And while taxis in Dubai are incredibly cheap they were also useless as no taxi driver seemed to know where anything was; consequently they spent a long time driving around before calling somebody to ask where they were going – so, I learned to be as specific as I could, which is quite hard in a place that you don’t know at all.  It was all very foreign – the Metro stations were like airports, nothing at all like the Tube in London, there was often no pavement by the side of the road – just sand, the restaurant staff were hit and miss with their English…  It’s a very unusual and somewhat fake place, the city in the desert, but in some ways one of the more fascinating places I’ve been to – such a mix of peoples and cultures and more highrise towers than you could care to imagine.  But as I sat alone, finishing my meal for one in a Lebanese restaurant by the marina and then trying to navigate back to the Metro station with my box of leftovers, I was still extremely grateful to be enjoying some time in a place far sunnier and warmer than dreary London in January.  I was wearing flip flops and a t-shirt and feeling rather smug about it!

2012 and I’m excited!

Happy New Year one and all, and wishing you the very best for 2012 – a year destined to be significant for many, if you are open to the possibility of change.

I saw in the New Year in style this year, on a gig in Dubai at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel (despite having a terrible cough and cold and generally feeling very under the weather).  On 30th December I flew with 8 other musicians from a chilly London to the warm shores of the UAE where the 10th band member joined us from Manilla.  Even though the tour budget couldn’t stretch to putting us all up in the Jumeriah Beach Hotel (3000 UAE Dirhams / £530 per night) we were nonetheless well looked after by the hotel, who collected us from the airport (cold towels and bottled water at the ready) and dropped off at the Academy (appartments allocated to staff at the hotel).

After a late arrival and an early start for the most amazing breakfast buffet I’ve seen in a long time (since my last trip to Dubai in fact), we took the opportunity to stroll along the beach and dip our feet in the sea, before a meeting with the agent and a lengthy set-up and soundcheck on-stage.

The venue for the gig was a temporary, but enormous, open marquee on the hotel’s private beach, where the 1000 or so guests ate another lavish buffet meal before joining the dance floor outside to party the night away with us in the run up to midnight and beyond.

The countdown to midnight saw the band scrabbling for last-minute dinner and costume changes before the most spectacular fireworks display over the water.  Since the stage’s backdrop was the sea and the Burj al Arab hotel, we had the best (and completely unobstructed) view of the whole display.  We then played our fourth and final set to get 2010 off to a rocking start.

Champagne on the beach followed – the band were in high spirits by then since this was the first drink we’d been allowed to have all night.  I was the first to go to bed, since by this point the drugs (Sudafed & Cold + Flu pills) had worn off and I was feeling worse for wear.  Some of the band continued the celebrations way into the early hours of New Year’s Day and only made it up in time for the plane home.

Luckily myself and two of the girls in the band had extended our stay until 5th Jan, so for us we still had a few more days of sunshine and sand.

And as for the exciting year ahead, there’s been a lot of noise about 2012 and all the possible changes it may bring; from the end of the Mayan Calendar and the prophesised end of the world to shifts and changes on a much smaller scale, it seems to me that this is the year to really make of it what you will.  I for one have started as I mean to go on: working with fantastic people and having as much fun as possible along the way.

2 gigs, 3 dresses, many ‘celebs’

Saturday 9th July was a busy day for me; I had two gigs in the diary which is always good news!  The first gig was a wedding in Windlesham, Surrey, playing Trumpet Voluntary for the Bridal Procession of a wedding at noon.  I allowed plenty of time to get there but still was tight on time due to the Saturday morning traffic getting through central London.  I needn’t have worried though – the bride was 40 minutes late!  Apparently she arrived at the church late, realised she had forgotten her bouquet, went back to get it, and then was having photos taken outside the church while the congregation, organist, professional choir that she had hired and myself all waited around inside.  The choir had been hired mainly to sing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus for the Bride & Groom’s recessional music, but as far as I’m aware they had to give it a miss as there wasn’t time!

I didn’t hang around to find out – I had to get to my second gig of the day (which I missed the soundcheck for because of the delay at the church in Windlesham).  Gig Number 2 was a performance with function group The Atlantic Band playing at theDuke of Essex Polo Trophy 2011.  I had an AAA pass for the whole event, and managed to get my sister (Nicola aka ‘Rubes’) a free ticket too – she has a keen interest in both fashion and minor celebs from The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE) etc so she was the perfect companion.  Dolled up in our new dresses from my sister’s fashion boutique Ruby we enjoyed a pricey glass of Pimms while Nicola, in her element, told me who was who and why they were ‘famous’.  I’m sure I’ve never been surrounded by so many ‘reailty’ tv stars; most (if not all) of the TOWIE cast were there, but surprisingly no sign of the Made In Chelsea crowd.  Both Peter Andre and Alex Reid were there (who I’m reliably informed are both exes of Katie Price) along with many, many others, including a TOWIE cast member who is actually called Joey Essex – his favourite word appears to be ‘reem’, whatever that means?!  (See here for an UD explanation).  All in all it was a fun day in the sunshine, a short game of polo (I never realised how short a polo match is!) and then on to the gig.

Just as I went backstage to get changed into my 3rd dress of the day (another ‘Ruby’), the heavens opened and the whole place turned into a swamp – just what you need when the band is wearing all-white on stage!  I managed to keep my outfit filth-free though and had a fun gig – we were joined by Gareth Gates who got really stuck into a rendition of Mustang Sally, a guy from a new boy band I’d never heard of, and Dane Bowers (who was originally mistaken for ‘one of the ones from Blue’) singing an interesting version of Signed, Sealed, Delivered.  We were also due to have the pleasure of performing with Arg (James Argent from TOWIE) but he disappeared from the marquee before we could get him on stage and wasn’t seen by me again for the rest of the evening.  Perhaps these Tweets of his give us a clue as to what happened:

“Last year i was singing on a lil podium at the side of the tent and tonight im on the main stage wiv a live band, Crazy! Essex Polo lets go!” (@RealJamesArgent)

“@LydiaRoseBright @kirk_official in The Helicopter haha! I’m singing later with big band so nervous!! http://yfrog.com/kfi8hij” (@RealJamesArgent)

Don’t fret Arg, there’s always next year!!

Dropped for Freelancing? Comments welcome!

I was recently dropped from a ‘professional’ ensemble I have been playing with, essentially because I’m a freelancer, and I can’t help but feel a little miffed at the decision.  It boiled down to the fact that I had depped quite a few of the gigs with this particular ensemble out to other trumpet players because the fees were very low, the gigs were often on the weekends, and I was eventually offered much better paid work on the same dates.  As a freelancer living in London, money can be tight, and I’m in no financial position to turn down well paid gigs; it literally makes the difference between being able to pay the rent and eat, or not – this is hardly a choice that is difficult to make when it comes down to simply being able to afford to live.  However, it’s never a decision I like to make, as the gigs I had to dep out would, I’m sure, have been much more fun and enjoyable than the better paid ones I was offered instead; a point I had tried to explain to the band leader, but who seemed to take the whole thing rather badly.

I had been very open and honest with said band leader about my position; that I rely solely on my work as a musician in order to pay the bills and while I enjoyed the gigs I played with their ensemble, if I was offered a gig that clashed and where the difference in fees was sizeable, that I would have no option but to take on the higher paid work and find a suitable dep for the original gig.  The next thing I heard from the band leader was that I had been replaced, probably indefinitely, as I wasn’t seen to be showing commitment to the group.  I think that if the band leader was made uncomfortable by the knowledge that I may dep some gigs out closer to the time after originally taking them on, that I was owed the professional courtesy of them discussing these concerns with me first, not just booking somebody else and telling me the next day.

I do understand that they want a core band of people who play at every rehearsal and gig, but if they are going to have freelancers in the band then I think it’s unrealistic to expect that.  As far as I have experienced, it is standard in the industry to dep out gigs if you need to – as long as the band leader agrees and the dep is suitable.  Yes, I did have to pull out of some gigs that I originally said I could do, but I never left anybody in a position where a dep could not be found and the part left unplayed.  Unfortunately I couldn’t commit more than that to the band – turning down higher fees would cripple me.  The band leader seemed to think I wanted ‘one rule for me and a different one for everybody else in the band’ – perhaps I was the only one there who wasn’t sitting on a pile of money – or perhaps the other musicians have more secure sources of income.  Either way, I told the band leader that the only way to secure your core band members who rely solely on playing for their income is to secure higher fees for the band (in one instance I depped out a £70 gig on a Saturday night so that I could take one for £170 instead, and passed up a gig for £30 on a Monday night as I would have lost more than that from not doing my teaching while at the gig).   I think when you’re working with an established band it is not unreasonable to expect a decent fee – or dep out the work appropriately as required.

So, now I’ve been replaced, and while I don’t have any hard feelings about it if that is the basis on which the ensemble is going to be run, I do think it’s a very dangerous move in terms of them maintaining the highest possible performance standards.  If they are only going to work with musicians who can commit 100% to all gigs regardless of the fee, thus essentially ruling out working with freelancers, won’t they essentially end up with a band of amateurs?  I don’t mean that to sound like a negative comment – there are many amateur musicians who perform to exceptionally high standards, of course – but if you want to run a band as a professional outfit, surely it would be best to use professional musicians?  I would appreciate any thoughts or comments you have on this – have I just got the wrong end of stick, or is my approach to working as a freelancer in line with everybody else’s?

Culture Vulture

I have really been enjoying myself lately, and have seen a rather wide variety of live performances (aside from the ones I’ve been playing in).  In the last few of weeks I have been to see:

• Monteverdi ‘Vespers‘ performed by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at King’s Place
• ‘The Lying Down Concert – Earthrise‘ performed by the Ex Cathedra Choir, Joanna Macgregor and Kiku Day at the Royal Opera House (In the Floating Forest erected in the Paul Hamlyn Hall)
• ‘Bedlam’ written by Nell Leyshon, directed by Jessica Swale, performed at The Globe
• Berlioz ‘Grand Messe des Morts’ – a large collaboration of performers from the UK and Poland, performed in the Mary Magdalene Church in Wroclaw, Poland

The Monteverdi Vespers concert was wonderful – I went with my mum, who had heard it performed once before in Westminster Cathedral.  I myself had never heard it performed live, and King’s Place is such a wonderful venue for a work like that because it’s so intimate.  Both the choir and the orchestra were superb. Being a trumpet player I was naturally impressed by the stunning cornet playing, but I’d never heard the OAE perform before and the sound created with the period instruments and voices in plainsong was truly divine.  The concert was recorded and I’m very much looking forward to hearing the recording when it is available.

The Lying Down Concert was an interesting concept.  It was the London Premier of Earthrise composed by Alec Roth as a commission for Ex Cathedra to celebrate their 40th year.  This coincided with the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing, and of the famous picture of the Earth rising above the surface of the Moon.  Roth writes “the music of Earthrise is a meditation on this icon and falls into three sections:
Part I – Man’s constant drive for exploration and exploitation
Part II – A contemplation of the Earth seen from space
Part III – a plea for true wisdom and understanding
The text is set in the Latin of the Vulgate, and the whole is topped and tailed by two of the Great Advent Antiphons.”
Well, I’m not too sure about the deeper meanings of some of that, but I can assure you that the concert was a unique experience for me.  Never have I been to a concert (in the Royal Opera House no less) and been invited to lie down on the floor, beneath a Floating Forest, and listen to a mixture of traditional and contemporary Japanese music (Takemitsu) alongside Messiaen, Tallis and the new Roth piece, all whilst watching the light show dance on the ‘trees’ and whilst an aerialist spins above me.  I came out of the concert feeling as though I had meditated for just over an hour – what a wonderful way to enjoy some very earthly music.

Next up was a new play, Bedlam, at The Globe.  I’d never been to The Globe before and that in itself is an experience – a rebuild of Shakespeare’s Globe which transports us back to Elizabethan London, and that includes paying extra to sit down and even more for a cushion!  But back to Bedlam, an extravaganza that is set in a fictionalised version of Bethlem Hospital, London’s infamous insane asylum, in the middle of the 18th century.  This is the first play ever written by a woman to be staged at The Globe so it was good to see history in the making, and although there were mixed reviews from the press, I thoroughly enjoyed the play and the whole Globe experience (including my friend Jim being dragged up on stage as part of the audience participation and the free bar afterwards, since we went on press night and Jessica Swale, the director, is a friend of mine).

The trip to Poland was exciting for me as I’d never visited the country before and didn’t really know what to expect.  I found out that the people are very friendly, everything is pretty cheap, and since the weather was nice I spent 4 days wandering around Wroclaw thoroughly enjoying myself.  The language is hard though – I learnt how to thank people in Polish and that was about it unfortunately, but I did see the hotel that Hitler used to stay in – pointed out to me by a taxi driver to which I replied “oh, wow, that’s…very interesting” as I wasn’t really sure how else to respond.  I was actually in Poland to tag along with my boyfriend Sam, who was performing and recording the gargantuan Berlioz work ‘Grand Messe des Morts’ in the Mary Magdalene Church in Wroclaw.  This huge piece of music required a choir of 200-odd singers, a full orchestra, with an additional 4 ‘brass bands’ and drums stationed in the corners of the stage and adjacent alcoves – 400 performers in total, including:

• Gabrieli Consort and Players
• The Chetham’s Symphonic Brass Ensemble
• Wroclaw Philharmonic Choir
• Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra
• Wroclaw Festival Choir
• Wroclaw Festival Orchestra

I sat in the church for some of the rehearsals and recording, but hearing the piece performed in full during the concert, with the sun setting through the huge window behind the stage, was incredible – the wall of sound that hit you when the full ensemble was performing was contrasted perfectly with the sections of quiet a cappella singing by the semi-chorus; a truly beautiful sound.  I was so pleased I was able to see this concert – I knew quite a few of the guys that had been booked in the brass section and it was great to hear such an epic piece with those big brass moments, but the rest of the orchestra and the choir were wonderful too, and this work is performed so rarely because of the sheer scale of it and the amount of personnel needed to do it justice.  I just hope I get booked to play it one day!

Tweeting is easier!

I realise I have been rather slack on the blogging front.  I have to say, Tweeting is so much easier; I think micro-blogging is much more my style!  However, I will now attempt to condense the last 6 months into a sensibly sized blog post.

So, after a quiet January, February wasn’t much of an improvement.  Aside from my regular teaching work I had two function band gigs and a handful of rehearsals for The Bombshellettes and T.Mandrake.  On a positive note, I did have a couple of lessons with an old teacher of mine, Andy Mitchell.  Andy is principal trumpet with the English National Ballet and professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Junior Department (where he used to teach me).  I was put back in contact with him by one of my former RAM tutors, Mark David, who’d been working with Andy and suggested I get back in touch.  I’d not seen him in ten years, so obviously there had been quite a change in my playing since he’d last taught me!  We had a couple of lessons working on a recital programme I had coming up and it was so useful to get a new perspective from an old tutor.

Things started picking up a bit in March.  I had my recital – one of the highly coveted lunchtime concerts at Chichester Cathedral which went very well indeed.  The venue was full, there were literally hundreds of people there to see the concert, including my mother – my number one fan!  I also had a photo shoot with Cavendish Brass which was a really fun day and we got some great shots for our new website (http://www.cavendishbrass.com).  I played with Zone One Brass (ZOB) at the Regional contest and we failed to qualify for the National Finals – very disappointing indeed considering how well we felt we’d played and especially after listening to the recording of our performance.  Oh well, the politics of the brass band world are far too ridiculous to get into now.

April was a rather average month, although I did play a fun charity gig at The Parish Church of the Annunciation, Marble Arch.  The concert was a fundraiser for the church, with many actors and singers involved, and I was booked to open the show with a performance of Let The Bright Seraphim along with soprano Eli Rolfe Johnson and organist Olly Lallement. 

The month of May was ZOB madness.  The band played in two contests that were two weeks apart; the first in Blackpool and the second at the All England Masters in Kettering .  The rehearsing paid off and the band did rather well – 2^nd in Blackpool and 5^th at the Masters.

In June I launched my new Live Music Night at a bar in Soho called El Camion (formerly El Camino).  The night runs every Tuesday and I book four acts to play a 30 minute slot each.  So far it’s all been going really well, and I’m trying to build up the reputation of the venue and the night as a respectable one to play on the London circuit for those looking for an intimate performance space. 

July was a very busy month – spent a couple of days up north with Oompah Brass doing some outreach work with them which was great fun.  The Bombshellettes opened the main stage at the Lovebox festival which was a big step forwards for the band.  I then spent 3 weeks in France for the Opera de Bauge festival, which was a great experience.  3 operas in 3 weeks (Mozart – Magic Flute, Verdi – Rigoletto, Handel – Julius Caesar), I met some great people, enjoyed the operas and in general had a wonderful time. 

So, that took me into August, and then it’s been all about the function band scene since then.  I had some Bombshellettes gigs too; a wedding that was basically a 3-day festival, as you do, and a fun gig at Floridita.  I’ve been Oomping again, with Oompah Brass at Katzenjammers in London Bridge for a couple of Friday nights, which is always great fun.  I saw their new show up at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last month – “The A-Z of Oompah” – which was excellent.  I had a fun few days at the Fringe actually, saw a few shows, played a jazz quartet gig, and it was sunny for a change!

Now it’s September, the schools are back which means I’m back to many hours of teaching and driving, but it’s good for paying the rent.  I’m off to Poland on Friday to see my boyfriend singing in a concert or two out there, and then back to London in time to run another night at El Camion.  I will, of course, attempt to blog more regularly, but life’s busy and I’m promising nothing!

New Year, New Start

Since I last wrote a blog entry I have quite literally taken my life apart and put it back together again.  Still, it’s a new year, “time for a new start” and all of those other impossibly optimistic New Year cliches.Anyway, the start of this year was not looking so good for me on the diary front.  The run up to Christmas and New Year was pretty busy, as it always is, but what with the credit crunch in full effect, this January has seen a decline in the function band work I have relied on in the past to get me through the lean months – no more corporate award ceremonies for “salesperson of the year” or Christmas parties in January (even though the venues are cheaper).

January was going to be a really tight month until I got a call offering me a gig – The Lifeline Gig – with a week’s notice.  It’s great when that happens.  One minute you’re looking at your budget for the rest of the month and wondering how you’re going to live on £1.52 for food and petrol (because it has snowed too much, so your teaching keeps getting canceled and therefore you don’t get paid), to breathing that huge sigh of relief when you get off the phone knowing that you are actually going to make it through to see February without having to beg (although I did have to buy cheap baked beans, and they were horrible).

In a way, the quieter months at the start of the year can be quite relaxing after the manic pre-Christmas workload, and it gives you time to sort out your accounts and file your tax return and generally get your life in order.  It’s also a great time to do some decent practice, rather than only having time to play during gigs.  And I’ve taken on the role of ‘Chief Ironer’ for my mum and sister as I have the time to do it and they have the cash to pay me for it.

And so tomorrow will see my playing for Guildford Philharmonic in a Magical Kingdom children’s concert.  The dress code is “smart casual and loads of bling and a mad hat if you’ve got one” but I’m not complaining, just happy to be out working!