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.

Birthday Blog ~ featuring My First Twitter Gig!

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post but today is my birthday and I’m officially taking a day off from all things work-related so I actually have time to write one!

It’s been a busy month, which is always a good sign, and a good mix of work on.  I played another Verdi Requiem with the Canterbury Choral Society – this was the gig that was tied to the one in Snape Maltings so it also meant I finally got paid for both gigs.  Then of course there’s the usual function band gigs for the summer season weddings.  I particularly enjoyed a gig I did on 18^th July with new function band RubberSoul (they’re new to me, not to each other; they’ve been playing together for about 10 years).  Not only were the guys and gal in the band really friendly and welcoming to me as a dep, they’re an excellent band (very well organised which made a nice change!) and the sets we played were full of energy.  And the best bit about all of this is that this was my first Twitter gig!  I got chatting to Tony from RubberSoul months ago on Twitter about various horn arrangements we were each doing for our function bands, and when they needed a dep he got in touch via Twitter and voila, a new working relationship was formed!  So, he took a bit of a punt in booking me without ever having met me, without hearing me play and without any recommendation, but the gig was a roaring success (despite me falling over on the steps up to the marquee for the first set!) and thus the miracle of Twitter as an effective networking tool becomes a reality.  We even managed to convince the band’s drummer of the benefits of Twitter (and iPhones) in the dressing room that night between sets, and he has recently got an iPhone and joined Twitter – so gradually the word is spreading!

And other work has been going well.  July brought with it more graduation ceremonies than you could shake a stick at (never really understood that phrase, but what the hey, let’s roll with it).  I spent a week and two days in Lancashire playing fanfares (four trumpets and organ) to open and close ceremonies at UCLAN and Edge Hill Universities and to accompany the processionals and recessionals.  We had an unfortunate incident in the first Edge Hill ceremony where one of our trumpet players collapsed and was taken to hospital; she’s ok and feeling much better now, and if you want to see her being carried out of the ceremony check out the first 5 mins of this video!  Please excuse the very unfortunate placing of a microphone directly infront of us, the sound on the video is distorted as a result.

I’m still waiting to hear about the extra teaching I’m trying to secure from September – I’ve played assemblies at two schools and have a meeting about a third, so fingers crossed for getting some more ‘bread-and-butter’ work as I like to think of it.  If I could up my teaching to one full day a week that would be enough for me.  It’s a tricky thing trying to balance the ratio of teaching to other work; teaching is great as it provides a regular income, but take on too much teaching and you have to turn down gigs.  You can see the dilemma I’m sure.

And thus far the birthday celebrations are going well – they started on Friday night with a T.Mandrake gig at The Troubadour followed by trips to Mango Lounge and Bungalow 8 (where Quentin Tarantino was partying following the London premier of his latest film Inglourious Basterds), and have continued through the weekend to tonight when I’m going to Ladies’ Night at Windsor Racecourse with some friends – lucky me (I hope!)

The Month o’ May – Part 2

So, as I said, May was a very busy month.  The second half of the month was especially busy – I worked 18 days in a row at one point – that’s a first for me!  I’ve no aversion to hard work and, although shattered by the end of it, the variety of gigs that I got up to really kept things interesting.  Here’s a few highlights…

The first few days were pretty standard with the usual teaching etc. but I was invited back to the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) to play in a composers’ workshop which was nice as I got to see and play with some of my old RAM peers.  That week I also went to the launch of The Island Experiment’s debut album featuring their open mic night’s most successful performers, on which my friend Niko (http://www.myspace.com/radioniko) was featured.  I’ve recorded and played live with Niko so was pleased to support him and see his mini-set at The Island in Kensal Green.

That weekend (Saturday 16^th May) was my first of two trips to the Isle of Man that month with function band Co Stars.  We were playing at a wedding each time and though the gigs are pretty standard, their location does mean it takes up your whole weekend.  The second IOM gig required an early Sunday morning flight back to Luton so that we could then drive straight up to Manchester for another gig that evening – evidently the wedding season is in full flow.

The week commencing Monday 18^th May was a really fun one.  I’d been booked by RAM to play at the ceremony to mark the Installation of the new Archbishop at Westminster Cathedral.  I once worked at Westminster Cathedral, in the Friends office, so it was great to go back and see former colleagues.  The gig was amazing – playing fanfares and processional/recessional marches in a brass ensemble with organ.  It was broadcast live on the BBC, on the Diocese’s internet channel, on EWTN (the Roman Catholic TV network) and on Premier Radio.  So, the fees for the broadcasting rights in addition to the fee for the rehearsals and gigs made it the single best paid gig I’ve had to date (more of those gigs please!).  During my breaks in the ceremony I was Tweeting updates and replied to a Tweet from @CatholicHerald after they made a comment on the fanfares.  I’ve since been featured in an article in their newspaper entitled “’Tweeting’ to trumpeters at the installation.” And then for something completely different, after playing fanfares in Westminster Cathedral, I went and played a gig with originals rock band T.Mandrake at 229 (http://www.myspace.com/tmandrake).

As the only female in the brass ensemble I guess I was guaranteed some air time

The following week saw another rehearsal with T.Mandrake on the bank holiday Monday (no rest for the wicked), a rehearsal with a new horn section, a filming/recording session at Metropolis and another filming session at the Circus Tavern the day after – what a contrast in venue from one day to the next!  I’ll write a separate blog about the day at Metropolis as it was such an experience, but the Circus Tavern gig was interesting.  Our horn section was invited along to perform one song with a function band who were filming their promo video.  They already have a horn section (featuring Jack Birchwood on trumpet who’s been touring with Lilly Allen so it was great to meet and play with him), but wanted to really beef up the first number on the video and also use it as an audition for us with the hope that they’re happy to book us for gigs if their main horn section is unavailable (which seems likely if they’re off touring with pop stars!).

I ended May and my crazy 18-day stint with a cracking weekend; Friday night out with the girls, a trip to Worcester on the Saturday to see my friends Ruth and Steve, and a trip to the new snowdome at Hemel Hempstead on Sunday afternoon.  Ruth is a singer with an amazing voice who I’ve worked with since our days at Exeter University (http://www.ruthhamilton.com) and her husband Steve opens the batting for Worcestershire CCC.  I knew Steve from the Exeter days too – he played sax in the Jazz Orchestra where Ruth and I also met.  Despite Worcester being beaten by Northants in the end of the Twenty20 match, Steve played really well and scored 62 not out.  We followed the match up with a night out with Ruth, Steve and some of the other Worcestershire cricketers and their WAGs, including cricketing legend Graeme Hick, who had opened the new member’s pavilion named after him at New Road that day.  Just to make the evening even more surreal were joined at dinner by Jason Bonham, drummer for the Led Zeppelin Reunion and son of John Bonham!  A great end to a crazy month.

The Month o’ May – Part 1

May was a busy month.  I’m not complaining at all, but it was a very busy month.  It began on May 1st (the being busy part, not the month which of course started on May 1st!), with a daytime rehearsal with the Canterbury Philharmonic Orchestra in Bethnal Green for a couple of performances of Verdi’s requiem, and an evening gig with a function band down at The Grand in Brighton.

I enjoy the Canterbury Philharmonic Orchestra/Canterbury Choral Society concerts for a number of reasons.  Firstly, they are a good orchestra and a good choir. The orchestra seems to be largely sourced from the London music college graduates, so it’s always a chance to meet up with my former Royal Academy of Music (RAM) peers, some of whom I don’t get to see very often (others I see very frequently!).  Secondly, they pick good repertoire; Verdi’s Requiem is a great piece both to listen to and to perform (I’ve also performed Belioz “Damnation de Faust” with them in the past).  Thirdly, they perform in good venues.  The rehearsal on 1st May was for two performances of the Verdi; the first of which was in Snape Maltings on Sunday 3rd May and the second of which will be in Canterbury Cathedral on Saturday 20th June.  Although Snape Maltings is MILES away from Windsor (a 264-mile round trip), the concert hall there is excellent (http://www.aldeburgh.co.uk/).   And although the accoustics in Canterbury Cathedral (the location for the June concert and the previous Berlioz one) are not the best for hearing vocal performances, it is still a wonderful venue in which to play.  The problem with me taking on the gig at Snape Maltings in May was that it fell on the same date as my boyfriend’s birthday, which as you can imagine, didn’t go down particularly well as I was out all day and most of the night.  But because that gig was tied to the one in June and I couldn’t afford to say no to them both, I had to take it and sacrifice spending the day with my other half.  To be fair to him he didn’t kick up a fuss about it, although he was obviously disappointed.  But it’s one of those decisions you will face as a musician, and if I worked a normal 9-5 job he wouldn’t have expected me to take the day off if his birthday happened to fall mid-week (unlike this year’s birthday which fell on a Sunday unfortunately).  However, we did manage to celebrate his birthday that weekend – I packed alot in!  After getting home somewhere around 4am on Saturday morning after the Friday night gig in Brighton, we had a fun trip to the Zoo on Saturday and had a lovely dinner at a Thai restaurant in Windsor that evening.  After he opened presents and cards on the Sunday morning (his birthday) I faced the long drive to Snape while he had a long lunch with his parents.  The concert went really well and I eventually met up with him at a bar in South London where he was out with some friends who were also wishing farewell to a friend of ours who has gone to Ibiza to DJ for the summer season.  All in all, it was a busy weekend – thank goodness it was a bank holiday Monday!

My final thought about the Canterbury Phil/Choral Soc gig was this… There are four on-stage trumpet parts and four off-stage trumpet parts (I was onstage, playing 4th trumpet and tonking out the bottom end of the section – fab!).  All four on-stage trumpets were female, and one of the off-stage trumpets was also female.  Now, obviously it’s no shock to me to see talented women playing the trumpet, but it’s rare that in an 8-piece trumpet section the majority of those players would be female.  Very enjoyable indeed!

Canterbury Choral Society – link for the June concert:

http://www.mdesignsolutions.co.uk/cgi-bin/ccs/info_concerts.html?domain=info/concerts&name=nxtconcert