UEA Music department closing

Sad news that the University where I studied for my music degree has decided that it 'cannot afford to run the music department anymore'....
UEA is in the beautiful city of Norwich, for those who do not know...

Here's a satirical look at it - (but the subject isn't that funny!).

Benjamin Britten, who helped set up the department will be revolving in his grave...
Ho hum...

Bocholt

Tour done, and minor coughing fits aside, I am a Fleming in Belgium who has one the Phlegm battle!

Another excellent evening accompanied by the redoubtable Paul Plummer. Bowler hats, celeb masks and umbrellas to the fore... we took this small part of north Belgium to Britain... tea, royalty, muddling-through, Elton John, Rice & Lloyd Webber & a cross-dressing lumberjack:- what more could one ask for?
...and our dear friends Gertie & Jolein were there too from The Netherlands... how splendid!

It'll be Christmas next time we are here, but that'll be fun too... we'll dust off the German version of Best of British for January...

Songs of Cricket

...is now available on:

iTunes
Amazon

or, naturally via US!

Click for Promo video

Good to see Rory has been overtaken by dance in his Strictly sojourn.... he is great on his beeb blog - shame he is out now....

Aalst

Best of British went well to a packed house at Aalst... Our wonderful Belgian agent Thomas Van der Spiegel brought his whole family as they live nearby...
Lovely huge theatre, and friendly and excellent staff... and pre-gig meal in a restaurant that used to be a chapel - De Kapelaan - beautiful both architecturally and nutritionally...
Apart from a 30-second long coughing fit - I managed to obscure a Mike solo - which felt like about 2 hours, everything went well.
Did a very bad impression of HMQ, whilst wearing her face mask, as I stumbled into a chair, thus breaking one of Noel Coward's two golden rules of acting.... know your lines and don't walk into the furniture...
Steve's acres of Flemish, as ever, a great delight... (tho' we all join in a bit!) ...as indeed were his knees during the Lumberjack song...
Great to be back with Herr Paul Plummer on piano; and we have another show together tomorrow at Bocholt...

These last three gigs of this tour said together, with an overgutteral accent & a scowl - Jezus-Eik, Aalst, Bocholt - might give the idea that we are cross, but far from it, we are having a great time over here amongst the Belgae...

Bonheiden and Jezus-Eik

Two lovely full gigs in Belgium, performing our Madrigal to McCartney show...
Proof once more that it is a splendid country to visit... all the staff and people around are so friendly, helpful & uncomplicated... and the food is so nice!
And all managed with a nose full of phlegm... thank goodness it is a nose and not a throat... luckily only I am thus afflicted.
Two more in the next two days, giving our Best of British programme.... today in Jezus-Eik [Jesus Oak, btw] we had a rather British time too; it is just down the road from the English school over here.... lots of children [some Flemish speakers and some English] had a concert in the theatre, and we sang at the end of their time... they were delighted to see how silly it is possible to be whilst singing!
As ever, both new and old friends were about... including today someone we worked for last in Germany in 1992; hoping it will be less than 19 years before we meet once more!
We continue to spread Songs of Cricket amongst the unsuspecting Belgians.
Tomorrow we welcome back pianist, Paul Plummer, who now works in Austria; we have not worked with him for many a while... let's hope he has some cold remedy with him; it will be great to see him...

Classical Rolls Royce!

We are very blessed by our accompanists!
These days for our shows, on piano we have the fantastic Chris Hatt, the worldwide MD of Billy Elliot...
...and soon, because Chris is not free, we have the pleasant delight of working for a couple of Belgian nights with our previous chap, Paul Plummer, who is presently working at the opera house in Innsbruck...
...and now we also have the splendour of working once again with that Rolls Royce of classical accompanists, Malcolm Martineau. We are recording a third album with him, this time under the Champs Hill label - in November for release next year. We had a rehearsal yesterday, and it was as we have come to expect when we work with MM... looking forward to the CD very much.

It is loosely based on the concert we performed together in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris in March...
Songs of Love and Death/War... (to be decided)...

Urology Foundation

Now there I was thinking we were to sing to lots of Doctors, but in truth, last night at The Savoy, it was mainly only real people there... in support of the fine charity, The Urology Foundation. Some very senior doctors of course, but the event was a fundraiser.

The chairman of the Foundation, Steven Norris introduced us and we sang to the assembled throng; after a sumptuous auction which had clearly raised much for the charity.
...and Ian Hislop and Ronnie Corbett were there too...
Even at the late hour, and after auction exhaustion, people were fabulously attentive...

Not that I was eavesdropping, but earlier I had heard Mr Hislop talking of another beano in a few days' time, to celebrate 50 years of Private Eye - with everyone still alive who ever worked for it, invited... sounds huge fun...
(contd. page 94)