Friday 24 November 2000

Today's been busy. Had a meeting with Marie first thing to talk over last week's ConCal board meeting, and discuss ideas for venues and promotion. After a bit of brainstorming, we came up with a feasible plan for a series of late-night chamber concerts in St Andrews in the Square in Glasgow, where we made the John Clerk record. It all depends on various other parties being able and willing to be part of the project in one role or another, so I think I'll be spending Tuesday writing emails and letters to see if there's a chance it might happen.

For most of today I worked on the 2nd edit of the McFalls tango album, then dashed over to the City Hall for tonight's SCO concert with Thomas Zehetmair, dropping into the BBC en route. Herr Zehetmair is VERY serious - I thought you were allowed to crack a smile occasionally in Mozart, but apparently not - but he has lightened up a bit since Inverness on Wednesday. I enjoyed playing tonight, for the first time this week.

Tuesday morning's meeting with Brian McMaster at the Edinburgh Festival went OK ('much better than I expected' said James Waters afterwards). Brian has the knack of being extremely rude about everything, which is great, because you can be rude back without him taking offence. My opening line was something like 'James tells me you think The Gentle Shepherd is a load of crap', which seemed to get his attention. Anyway, after an entertaining 45 minutes or so in which we batted about ideas for  staging it, James and I hashed together a rough budget, and now it's up to the two of them to decide if it happens. Let's hope so: we could do with some high profile gigs.  Apart from anything else, we have a CD to launch!

It's been an interesting week: even although there's been three concerts in it, the playing's been completely incidental to everything else. Most people get into the music business through playing an instrument, and I suppose I have got up on stage three times this week and played.  But it's felt like an appendage to all the business, planning, research, and for that matter the sitting at a computer editing an album. 

There's an economic context too: the SCO pays quite well, but if I were playing in the RSNO this week as a principal, I'd be paid less than £70 for each day I worked. It doesn't take much imagination to realise that sitting in a office filling in forms for someone is rather more profitable than fulfilling your "musical calling". But then it's like plenty of other professions - the only way to earn a decent living is to get promoted out of what you're really good at.

The rant above is of course my way of salving my guilty conscience at not having done any practice for a couple of weeks ...