‘Trouble in Tahiti’… in Bloomsbury!

‘Tahiti!’
Bloomsbury Opera
Saturday 25th – Sunday 26th March
8:00
Great Hall, Goodenough College, WC1N 2AB
www.goodenough.ac.uk/opera
 

 
This weekend sees me in Bloomsbury, where I shall be performing in the orchestra for ‘Tahiti!’! This show gives you two operas for the price of one (although they’re both quite short so that probably makes up for it). First up we have the world premiere (ooooh…) of ‘Pacific Pleasures’, which is essentially a prequel to the other item on the programme, Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Trouble in Tahiti’. I’ll let you do the Googling and see what they’re all about. Performances take place in Goodenough College, which I’m sure will be.

Instrument-wise, I’ll be playing a whole menagerie of clarinets, consisting of:
 

  • The normal one.
  • The normal one’s slightly taller brother.
  • The tiny one.
  • Bertram.

Also, if you’re wanting to come and see this, do drop me an email first because I’ve got two free tickets to give away to my favourite applicants!

What I Did Last Week

Here are a couple of things that you, my loyal readers, may find interesting from the past week. First up, here are some videos of The Jelly Roll Jazz Band that we got before performing in Farrer’s Brasserie on Monday. They feature me on clarinet, James Ure on the world’s fastest sousaphone, and Alastair James on hat:
 

1) Sweet Sue

2) Match of the Day

The other thing you might like is the latest in my ongoing series of bassoonist’s point of view photographs, this time featuring my reed along with a special guest bassoon. This one is from Saturday, rehearsing for a concert in Durham Cathedral which you already know about from reading my last blog post:
 

Karl Jenkins’ ‘The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace’ in Durham Cathedral

Durham University Choral Society and Durham University Palatinate Orchestra
Saturday 11th March
7:30
Durham Cathedral
www.musicdurham.org/event/spiritofpeace

It’s a well-known fact that once I’ve been included in an orchestra it’s very difficult to get rid of me again. In that spirit, I intend to infiltrate the ranks of Durham University Palatinate Orchestra once more this weekend for a joint concert with Durham University Choral Society in Durham Cathedral! My, that’s a lot of Durhams.

The performance will feature Hubert Parry’s Blest Pair of Sirens (that’s a piece of music by the way, not a vaudeville act), along with the magnificent The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, by Karl Jenkins. It’s really very good. If you don’t believe me, have a listen to this:
 

See, I told you it was good. But d’you know what’s even better than hearing it on YouTube? LISTENING to it LIVE in a massive CATHEDRAL with a big CHOIR and a big ORCHESTRA with ME in it! So do make an effort to attend if you can. As always, I will be distributing imaginary gold stars to anybody who comes along.

Upcoming Performances

The Sandside Orchestra
Saturday 4th March
7:00
Westborough Methodist Church, Scarborough
scarboroughcommunitychoir.wordpress.com/welcome-to-our-choir/latest-news

This Saturday, I heartily encourage you all to make the journey to Westborough Methodist Church for what I’m sure will be a marvellous evening of music and raffles. The Sandside Orchestra will once again be joining with Scarborough Community Choir in a concert featuring extracts from Rodgers and Hammerstein, Gilbert and Sullivan, Andrew and Lloyd Webber, and Rachmanin-and-Off. These concerts are always highly enjoyable, and there’s only one of them a year so if you don’t come along this week then you’re scuppered! I shall be playing the ‘big-tube-of-a-million-thumb-keys’, as I believe the ancient Aborigines called it. To give you a taster, here’s a picture from last year’s performance, with me looking furious for some reason:
 

 
The Jelly Roll Jazz Band
Monday 6th March
7:00 – 9:00
Farrer’s Bar and Brasserie, Scarborough Spa Complex
Facebook event

In case any of you have been having delusions lately of me being a serious musician, do come along to this performance and witness the truth. I will be playing liquorice stick (and yes I did have to look up that spelling) with everybody’s favourite eccentric jazz band, in an evening programme of tunes ranging from ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’ to ‘Stranger on the Shore’ to ‘Hiding Under the Bubblewrap with You’. Joining me will be the massively musical Alastair James on belly-fiddle, and the supremely skilful James Ure on foghorn. If you’re good we might even consent to talk to the audience for a change, so you’ll get to hear what our human voices sound like!
 

Say “Hello” to Bertram

[EDIT: Sadly these videos seem to have been lost in the mists of time, but have a dig elsewhere on this blog for other samples from my baritone saxomophone and bass clarionet! – MG, 3/4/23]

 
To kick off this shiny new blog, I thought it would be nice to introduce to you two new members of my instrumental family! First up, we have Count Bertram Bassy:
 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=s5a7UnyHB8Y%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded

Secondly, meet Baritone Obama (featuring the world’s first invisible neck strap):
 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=CpvRMG_O0yQ%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded

Ten points for every mistake or dodgy bit of video editing you can successfully ignore!