When that a cetain absurd air of pompous self-importance lingers around, it’s only a matter of seconds before eyes roll. For #Debussy it...

Contorting fingers in quite a popular #pastime at the #piano. Virtuoso pianists in the twentieth century were especially fond of what...

#Words usually dictate - that is their downfall. Too often we see or hear words and act according to their instuction, or repeat them,...

#Meditation has somehow been adopted into #trend. Social media is flooded with meditation tutorials, books give us a run down of the...

#Learning from #larks.... Composers often quote birdsong in their works - and many were avid ramblers and early risers too. COVID-19 has...

Pianos - #Klaviers - were not very popular. They were unable to match the power of harpsichords, and clavichord were already popular...

#Smiling is good for us. I’ve been assured it’s a fact that has been backed up with plenty of science. So why are classical concerts...

Art is an #illusion. I feel very strongly that the #comfort that art brings must in some ways be linked to its ability to give a chance...

H is for #hybrid. I am going to say something contraversial: Purity is overvalued! In art at least, there is no such thing as a pure...

G is for #grip. The more we know something to be #true, the more we must hold on to it - grip it and not let any distractions allow it...

As society the unquestioning trust for the written word, and the weight collectively given to common opinion (or the ‘normal way’ of...

We’ve heard a lot recently about what people consider ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’. I can’t help feeling that the opinions,...

Turning to letter D I reflected on the idea that in times of difficulty perhaps the most important thing we can dare to do is to #dream. ...

The letter C conjures up a whole wealth of associations, both musical and not. After thinking about many contenders for this post I...

B is for Bonnie, my half-Siamese cat, insisted on being a #lockdown co-worker to help me make this video. In all seriousness though, B...

It's the second surreal week of '#Lockdown' in the United Kingdom. No one knows when restrictions will be lifted, but it does not seem...

How surreal everything feels. How divisive and hostile parts of society have become to age, profession, race, lifestyle in just a matter...

Music depends on routine. Applied to one of the highest creative activities of humankind that statement feels like sacrilege - or at...

The image of the rose and nightingale is deeply intertwined with Russia’s cultural identity. Look only to Russian fine art in the...

Turning off onto the embankment of the Fontanka the hubbub of Saint Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospekt almost immediately melts away. In that...