Day 41 - Never too late

There must have been a frenzy of activity in the GOAT office yesterday as we have had several emails and attachments. However we should bear in mind that there is probably always a frenzy of activity planning this whole venture, it's just that we don't quite see the frantic actions of Thanea, Maurice and Elizabeth and others as we calmly sit (or stand) with our instruments. I now have my time for the day, 10.45 with Examiner 3. The venue for the evening has also changed and will now be at the much larger Corn Exchange rather than the Guildhall. Rohan has also been busy and has put fingerings in for the third orchestral piece. She also gave us a tip for the sight-reading. We should set the levers of our harps to the correct key before we do any playing and there are marks available for getting it right! Despite all the plans for exams, concerts and fun we have in store we have been reminded that the most important thing is the fund raising as this is what this particular event is about. I am already extremely grateful to my sponsors, many of whom have been amateur musicians and there are many more amateurs out there enjoying their hobby. Some have even written about the experience with my favourite being John Holt's Never Too Late. Holt is better known as the author of How Children Fail and spent his working life looking to challenge the school system as he could see that the circumstances in which children learnt best were not happening in the schools he worked in and observed. The reforms he was looking for never came in his lifetime and I wonder if they ever will. Holt also loved music and his biographical account of how he came into music was inspiring, insightful, genuine and above all proof that anyone can learn music.

Poster for Clueless in Concert

I had to pop into Cambridge this morning so on the way home I bought a tuner then back at home spent a good few minutes tuning the harp. I started with middle C which was quite flat and turned the lever a quarter of a millimetre. I plucked it again and it was now a quarter tone sharp! Too much. By turning the handle even less it went slightly flat again. Eventually the green light came on and I moved to the next string, which was also flat and went through he same tedious process. Most harpists use the tuner for the first few notes then use their ear. I am not like most harpists (oh, in so many ways!) and used the tuner for the whole lot. The session that followed was dedicated to Alan who took up the oboe on retiring from the medical profession. Alan will be pleased to know I have no wish to reveal his age but this is because I can't remember myself, it was that long ago! What does become clear is that it really is never too late to take up a musical instrument! As well as playing with the Palace Band, Alan is also a member of the Learning Orchestra, based in London, which is a fabulous opportunity for mid-grade musicians to play with a full orchestra. In my ten minutes just before lunch I went through the GOAT Music and progressed very quickly thanks to Rohan's suggested fingerings. I then played through another new piece that she has sent, O Sanctissimus which is very nice then finished with The Ball and Azaleas in Houston, just to keep them ticking over until Tuesday and the Wreck-cital. After an afternoon rehearsal in Cambridge I managed another ten minutes for Alan at tea time running through the same pieces as earlier. It was then back to Cambridge for a third time for a lovely concert playing Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.