Well... we are now in the lull period... a week or so of calm, before the flurry of concerts for our ensemble starts for the year... and from there, it is pretty-full on for the both of us with our own individual performing schedules alongside the ensemble one! It is a great thing... but the last couple of years did leave us a bit exhausted by the time we hit Christmas. This year, we are trying to pace ourselves (a little bit...)... my wife in particular has cut ties with the university so that she doesn't have a nightmare two months of underpaid stressful and unappreciated recital slogs. If they want her, they can pay proper market rates as an experienced freelance pianist and harpsichordist....

The year had already started with some small engagements in January and February... some bigger than others, but manageable as they weren't back to back projects over many weeks. That changes soon... in fact, this coming week!

But one little thing that we were able to fit in before we lost all contact with reality... was a trip out to a country town to inspect a small harpsichord! We have always been on the lookout for a smaller more portable harpsichord to use for travelling and smaller concerts... it is a pain in the arse to lug our large double manual monster around... and the ones that we can easily borrow or rent are not quite up the standard that we would like in terms of sound and projection.

So, we have been trying out various ones as they pop up... and this one is incredibly promising. Full and punchy, single manual but with 8/8/4 choirs of strings... soundboard in very good condition... stand and music stand are from something else, but that is just cosmetic. This seems like it could be a great match... except that the action on the keyboard is shallow and heavy, and we are in the process of negotiating a way to get the instrument to a technician so that we can see if it is possible to fix by keyboard regulation... or not.

Everything is positive... but the touch is a killer. It means that it is quite difficult to play, despite having a great sound... and solo repertoire is definitely out of the question. Anyway... fingers crossed... we have a tentative plan to transport the harpsichord at the end of March.

... and with the lull, we are trying hard to prep all the oragnisation on all fronts so that things aren't in chaos before we start... it is a bit of a yearly ritual. And that includes stocktaking and organising all of our physical music (again...) to reunite parts with each other, and to have a logical (for the moment..) manner of grouping all the scores and parts.

I also have to do the same to the digital collection... but that can be done when I'm on tour and sitting around in a hotel room!

The ensemble backend, ticketing and administration is all set up and ready to run for the year... as is the website... and my wife is hard at work doing all the publicity images and stuff for the rest of the year, so that we aren't running behind it all the time!

And this coming week, the rehearsing begins for our first ensemble outing of the year... a 2 hour concert/background of just my wife and I at one of the national institutions. A contract concert that is a touch underpaid, but should be fun regardless! My wife and I have many many hours of music easily able to be bumped up to standard at short notice. The main problem is just choosing enough so that we can easily switch and react as we figure out exactly what this concert needs from us... it is a bit unclear, we play... and people draw and paint. So, not your typical concert format!

... and then the concerts start... 5 in a back to back fashion, finishing with our first major chamber concert for the year. And we have to finish listening and editing our first recording at some point in that period as well... sigh...

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