Nicholas Freestone – young musician

This won’t be too long, because I was only involved in one item – the Wind Band that opened the concert.  I did so with only running one of the pieces through – three others were complete sightreading! (more…)

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when the whole of Ipswich School basks in the midsummer sunlight (or more likely rain) and listens to a variety of musical items. This year there was a change in location, the catalyst being new bag rags blocking off the Fison building from the school field, though I know that certain members of the music staff never liked the old location. So we hired out a marquee and professional sound/light engineers (who are allegedly doing Glastonbury next week), and held the Soiree at the other end of the field, by the pavilion. (more…)

This review looks at the recording I have listened to of the Ipswich School Snape Maltings Concert. Despite some rumours that the school had spent £200 on special recording engineers, this sounds very much like a typical Snape recording. For those who don’t know Snape, the single microphone is positioned above the edge of the stage, roughly above the conductor’s head. As a result, there are balance issues, and the balance on the recording is not anything like the balance on the night. So without further ado, I’ll look at the CD item by item. (more…)