2023 kicked off with a wedding at one of my favourite venues, the lovely medieval Brympton House in South Somerset. The wedding couple had travelled from New York for their special day, so there were many American guests in attendance. It was a lovely civilised occasion.
Then one of my pupils achieved a Distinction for his Grade 4 piano exam, which was great. His work ethic and focus are quite remarkable, he deserved this result.
I attended three wedding fairs in different parts of Somerset in February and March, which meant several hours of playing music from many different genres. These are always exciting occasions when it is also nice to meet other wedding suppliers. Fortunately, my efforts yielded results as I have been successful in securing several bookings for the year ahead!
In February I had the opportunity to return to London for a Casio piano teacher’s event and also a national music awards. There was a lot of networking going on with piano teachers attending from all over the country. I was privileged to have been invited to the awards in the evening at the Grosvenor Square hotel in Mayfair, watching many worthy musicians receiving recognition for their endeavours. In addition, there was a lovely dinner and a plentiful supply of wine to enjoy so it was a late night! During the course of the day, I bumped into a fellow student I had not seen since my days at the Royal College of Music: it was lovely to reminisce about the people we had known and to discuss musical matters with such a highly respected pianist and piano teacher. Hopefully, we will stay in touch!
March brought the Highbridge Festival of the Arts, where several of my students, both children and adults, won gold, silver and bronze medals. I entered pupils at all levels from beginners to advanced, including one little girl who has been learning with me for only a few months. Unfortunately I will be unable to attend their 75th anniversary memorial concert in April but I have been asked to write a tribute for them about my childhood memories of the Festival, which I am more than happy to do.
Next week, the international pianist, Noriko Ogawa is to give a recital at Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. I was pleased to be asked to write a review of it for the local paper so I will look forward to that.
I also look forward to the months ahead with three of my students taking their Grade 7 and 8 exams and also summer weddings to play for at North Cadbury Court and Old Oak Farm in Langport.
I hope by the time of my next blog, the warmer weather will finally have arrived in the UK…!
Happy Easter!