Ji and Yuka adventure part 3

here we are again in Scotland

Having had the first part of the tour last month, we were getting used to the long train ride to Edinburgh. When we arrived, we were welcomed by the wonderful Biggar Music Society.

For this tour, we prepared a different program of Beethoven 4th, Brahms 2nd, Webern four pieces and Elgar Sonata. These pieces were almost new to the audience, however it was received extremely well! Especially having an old Steinway piano, provided extra warmth in our sound - thank you Biggar for that piano!!

Next day, off to Melrose.
We were again welcomed warmly and thoroughly enjoyed performing there.
And our host family gave us Asian food after the concert.
There's nothing better than having our home food after a concert... :)

The final concert was at Kelso....but yuka had an extra fun in a nearby town called, Duns.
She gave a masterclass at high school. Two lovely girls played some Vivaldi and Debussy - followed by the school chamber orchestra playing the Piratte of Caribean! It was a great pleasure to work with such dedicated young ones, who truly enjoy music...

We were sad to finish our final concert...but the Kelso audience gave us much joy to perform.
The acoustic in the venue was marvellous!
Ji and I had some fun playing the organ (first time for Ji)... Gave us the inspiration to perform the Chaconne by Vitali...gorgeous music!

Just want to thank ALL who helped us get through the tour and Tunnell trust for giving us this exciting opportunity.
Hope to see you soon again, Scotland!!

Total Brass in Scotland!

It’s time for our second Tunnell Trust Tour to Scotland and after the success and fun we had on our last tour to the Hebrides in November, we expect to have an amazing time. The first day however is the trickiest with lots of super quick packing, sorting out the car including the jigsaw challenge to fit everything in the boot and then the 7 ½ hour drive up to Livingston where Ross’s wonderful parents are housing us for a number of nights. The drive was long but it was made much more enjoyable with the 2015 edition of the Total Brass Tunnell Trust Car Quiz! Rob was very happy to have won on this occasion. A fantastic meal courtesy of Valerie and Alan Learmonth was a perfect welcome to Scotland and we all retired for the evening (after a customary wee dram of Alan’s finest whiskey) really excited about the coming days.

Our first concert was in Glasgow at the Merchants’ Hall with Westbourne Music. A rather rainy morning didn’t dampen the mood as we travelled to the venue and we were welcomed into the hall with a fantastic high ceiling, intricate wood decoration and beautiful stained glass windows.  After a quick rehearsal and a spot of lunch (with an amazing chocolate brownie) we were ready to start the concert!

The hall was almost full and we received a marvellous welcome from the audience. It is sometimes tricky with a brass quintet as much of the music will be completely new to the listeners but everyone came with open ears and we hopefully provided a programme with something for everyone. We started with a typical brassy fanfare courtesy of Paul Dukas and then we weaved our way through a maze of French romantic music, a Bach fugue, some jazz, aboriginal style tuba beat boxing, brass band classics with time even to stop off at some classic pubs in Ewazen’s Colchester Fantasy! We chose to send people on their way with a calming and lush encore of the familiar Scottish tune Loch Lomond that upon its introduction (although apparently mispronounced by Rob) induced a pleasing and welcoming sigh of content from the audience.

The concert was extremely well received with everyone thanking us greatly at the end and wishing us luck for the rest of the tour. Massive thanks to Westbourne Music for a brilliant concert in Glasgow now it’s time to go off to Inverurie!