Firstly I must say that I was truly blown away at Sarah Markham’s birthday gig in Huddersfield in April.  I’d never been to Huddersfield University before and upon entering the concert hall I was greeted with the sound of saxophones.  The Tribune Saxophone Octet were rehearsing at the time and from that point on I knew the day would be something special.    I was there to play with Equinox, Sarah had been depping for Gayle who has recently had a baby.  I had never thought a contra-bass saxophone could be played “sexily” until I saw The National Saxophone Choir’s smaller ensemble play Crazy Rag, what a laugh!  The whole evening showed just how much Sarah is respected in the saxophone world, praising comment after praising comment from her friends, colleagues and ex-peers.  Then came her performance of Ibert’s Concertino da Camera with the YSE and she certainly hit home just why she has so much respect.

Equinox played: Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No2 first movement, Two from Grieg’s Holberg Suite  and Alun Cook’s Boris Goes to Dublin.  I feel that we held our own but at the same time this was an eye opener with regards to how we fair against similar combinations of instruments.  I think it’s important to be aware of people who are better than you and then try to evaluate why that might be.  This can be the steepest yet most rewarding learning curve.  Earlier in may we always played with the Masson Mill’s Brass Band in my hometown, Chesterfield.  We received news that the bands MD Stephen Shimwell had unfortunately passed away.  The band played a touching piece composed by Stephen in his memory and I’m sure he’d be proud of the performance they gave.

Results time:  I must say I was nervous about the grade 8 theory, I’ve been a teacher for quite a number of years now and I have taught a fair amount of theory so I felt that my pride demanded that I passed.  I’ve played in front of hundreds of people before now and I don’t think I’ve been quite as nervous as when that brown envelope fell through my letter box.  And, well, I passed!   What does this mean?  Well it means that I’m off to Sheffield University in September.  I really want to teach music in Secondary Schools and this is a step in the right direction.

Oh and did I mention that I’ve started selling sheet music?  Watch this space for more information on that.

Thanks for reading,

DC