thank you for the music

There has been a lot of music in my day today.This afternoon we had a Tea Dance at work - the tables were all moved to the edge of the room, John Caskie sang and William McRobert played the accordion while our customers danced the foxtrot, quickstep, Gay Gordons and more.

In the evening I was back in town with D for a concert organised by Music in Dumfries, featuring a  young cellist from Azerbaijan called Jamal Aliyev and an equally young Welsh pianist, Jâms Coleman. Jamal is a student at the Royal College of Music and he plays a cello made by Giovanni Battista Gabrielli in 1756. The varied programme had works by Beethoven, Bloch, Ligeti and Bridge and we were lucky enough to have front row seats.

At one point, Jâms stood up to speak. He talked about the piece and then said that the pair of them were nearing the end of a Scottish tour. They had played at 5 out of 6 venues, including Ardrishaig, the Isle of Bute and Kirkaldy. Apparently Jamal was doing all the driving. I had intended to blip a photo of them playing but decided on this one instead as I like the informality which contrasts with the seriousness of their musical relationship.

 I was thinking that their tour would make a great subject for a film...