Big project

03 March 2022

2022 has become the year I go outside my musical comfort zone. There are various different projects that I have on the go, including the continuation of my series of sight reading books and a heightened focus on my harp teaching, with various adjudication roles upcoming too.

In February I was delighted to take part as a headline speaker in a forum discussion for the United Kingdom Harp Assocation on harp exams and sight reading. The discussion was extremely well attended and some key topics were examined which I hope were useful to all participants. I certainly found that it sparked some new ideas for me to implement in my teaching practice.

The big project I have for this year however, is a solo CD release towards the end of 2022. This is a hugely demanding undertaking, with over 15 individual arrangements created and currently being rehearsed. I am currently knee-deep in organising a concert tour to celebrate the CD's release - if you'd like to host a concert please drop me a line! - and will be recording in May with the MPR label.

CD releases are incredibly time consuming, with the music being only a tiny fraction of the whole. Other elements requiring a huge amount of work are promo shots and CD artwork, publicity (both in print and in person), checking things like PRS requirements, writing programme notes, music editing.... Often these things all end up happening at the same time, so it can feel kind of stressful as well as exciting!