Video!

At last I've time to update this poor, neglected blog.
I hope you all had a happy, peaceful and healthy Christmas time. My mantra, as this busy time, has been "it's a season, not a day" and it's been a great help to know that whatever didn't get done in time for 25th. might get done on another day! Or might not!

So, after an interval of over a month, New Ross JFK memorial is today's topic.
It didn't go quite as expected, but well enough. A friend travelled down with me, but we got lost en route and instead of arriving 30 minutes before a rehearsal/runthrough, we arrived 15 minutes before the actual performance. I was quite upset, and felt rushed and not in control, and of course this caused the little mishap that followed.
Taking my Horn out of the case, I let it fall and now have 2 horrible dents which will have to be fixed. Thankfully, they do not seem to unduly affect the sound, as I couldn't leave it in to be fixed because I needed it to play!

In all this chaos, I forgot to ask my friend to video the performance, so all I have is a photo, but it is a precious one.

This is just after the performance, with Vincent, the composer. You can see the JFK memorial and eternal flame in the background, and to the right of the picture is the spot where JFK made his quayside speech when he visited New Ross in 1963, just a few months before he was assassinated.
I asked Vincent to autograph my music, and he wrote the most beautiful words, telling me how proud he is of my achievements and the musical journey I am on! 

The piece was played again in the National Concert Hall the following Tuesday, and I got a piece of video so you could hear it. I'm not playing, but I'm a proud Mamma cos Zoe is playing tuba in it! I found that I had to turn up the volume on my laptop to hear it, so I hope it will work for you.

There have been several other musical adventures in December, more to follow.