Wiggers!

Hello! It's been such a beautiful day today... Spring is finally here! I was so pleased to have a day off and enjoy the sunshine - this is my favourite time of year! And I'm so happy that my bulbs have finally flowered!

I've been busy preparing for my next Wigmore Hall recital, which is in a couple of weeks. It only seems like last week that I did the last one there! In fact, it was 4 months ago - where on earth does the time go?! I'm really looking forward to playing there again. It is a very special place, and my debut last November was a very special evening, which I'll always remember fondly. The Tillett Trust organised a wonderful reception afterwards, but unfortunately I didn't even manage a glass of wine... there were so many people there and I was still on a different planet! Here I am pictured after the concert with Richard Addison, who taught me for four years whilst I was a student at the Royal Academy of Music.

That week in November was incredibly busy. The night before the Wigmore recital, I gave a recital in Watford for Octagon Music Society. This is one of the nicest societies I have played for - we were so well looked after, a wonderful venue, and a great audience! And it was so nice to be giving a concert in my home town. Anthea Spensley had invited us to play there - Anthea was my music teacher at secondary school and organised my very first saxophone lesson!

The day after the Wigmore, I was back in my pink fairy outfit, (with my pink sax, of course!) giving a concert for special needs children. I love the variety! Then, the next day, I had a lesson in Paris! Oli came over with me, and we had a nice few days together. For once, I did all the things which people assume I'm doing all the time in Paris, such as taking a trip up the Eiffel Tower! We spent a perfect evening in Montmartre, taking full advantage of the French cuisine, and the highlight was going to the Moulin Rouge! I can't recommend it enough... absolutely fantastic!

I gave a recital at St. George's, Bristol not so long ago. That is another lovely venue. Then there was my first Bolero, which I did in the Barbican, playing both the tenor sax and bass clarinet! I can't believe that I've been playing for so long, and never actually played Bolero with orchestra - it defies all logic as a saxophonist! This was a lovely concert though, because I was sat next to my former teacher Alf Wallbank, who taught me from 15-18. When the orchestra stood up at the end of the concert, he put his arm round me and made a very touching comment - it made me realise how much has happened since he knew me as that slightly saxophone-obsessed school girl!

Other recent highlights include a weekend in Poland with my aunt and uncle. This was a lovely treat. When I saw my uncle at Christmas, he was talking about taking a business trip out to Poland, and asked what my diary was like in January. Next thing I knew, I had an email from him telling me that he had booked a flight for me to go out and join him and my aunt! We had a lovely time catching up with my Polish family... and I made a snowman with the little Marcinowiczs! Other than that, we ate and drank... a lot! Halina is such a wonderful cook, and I'm sure I came back a couple of stone heavier!

Back in January, I had the luxury of going to the opening night of 'Oliver' in the West End. Fittingly, my boyfriend 'Oliver' plays the on-stage violin part! It was an absolutely fantastic evening, which ended with getting a cab in the early hours... with about 50 helium balloons!! The show was brilliant, and I really urge everybody to go and see it before Rowan Atkinson ends his run as Fagin in July.

A couple of weeks ago, I flew from Paris up to Scotland for a few days between my lessons. My mum and dad have had a timeshare up there for a couple of years, and I'd never made it up, so I was determined to go this year! It was wonderful... once I'd managed to win the battle with the jobs-worth people who work for Ryanair who wouldn't let me take my sax on as hand luggage EVEN though it fitted in the rack! You should have seen his face light up when he realised I was carrying a 'forbidden' musical instrument as hand luggage! I informed him that, should he wish to rob me of more money, I would check my EMPTY sax case into the hold, put my passport, phone and purse down my sax bell, and walk through security holding my sax as my ONE piece of hand luggage!! Thankfully, he used his common sense, but only after he'd phoned his boss for advice on the matter... anybody would think I was trying to smuggle something illegal! But the time in Scotland was fantastic... the highlight probably being the fact that we had use of the spa facilities! Sitting in the roof-top hot tub, in the snow, looking at the stars was pretty spectacular. It was nice because my brother was there too, and Oli flew up for a few days as well. Adam took us all up a mountain... totally off track! He claims it was a walk in the park, but it really was a mountain in my book! We experienced 4 seasons in just a few hours, and when we made our descent, we were trawling through waist-height snow! We even had to cross a fast-flowing river, which my mum promptly fell into... it was actually pretty scary, but luckily she was ok... thank God for the bit of bush she grabbed hold of on the bank!!

So, now it's back to hard work, and getting ready for my Wigmore recital on 6th April. I performed the programme just a couple of days ago at St. James's Piccadilly. I'd only arrived in London from Paris at midnight the night before and woke up with an awful migraine. This happens occasionally when I'm overworking myself - I think it comes as a warning to slow down a bit! Thankfully, it had worn off by late morning, and I really enjoyed the concert. I was very impressed because when I was warming up in the church in the morning, a homeless man asked me if there was a lunchtime recital, and wanted to know what time it started. When I saw him making himself comfortable in the pews at about 2.10pm after the concert, I realised that he only wanted to know so that he could go out for an hour and AVOID the concert! That made me laugh! I was pretty knackered after playing, but the day was not over, as I was to be interviewed for a magazine. You can imagine my sheer delight when Helen, who was conducting the interview, suggested we go to Fortnum and Mason's for afternoon tea!! That was a lovely way to unwind after a recital! I then managed to catch Oli between his two 'Oliver' shows, and he treated me to a much-needed deep tissue massage in China Town!

So, that's what's been going on in my world. It's time for me to hit the sax (I mean the sack!!) now... I hope to see you at the Wigmore Hall! xx