Category Archives: Brilliant

Notes tremendous thundered out

Posted on 22 November 2011 by

Today is St Cecilia’s Day, the patron saint of music. It’s also the day Benjamin Britten was born. One of his compositions, the ‘Ode To Saint Cecilia’ (from whence comes the title of this blog post), is a setting for … Continue reading →

Posted in Brilliant, composers, composition, forthcoming events, New Dublin Voices and other choral singing, Technical, what I'm up to | 1 Comment

Grace and poise

Posted on 16 August 2011 by

This weekend, New Dublin Voices took part in a production of ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ at the National Concert Hall. It was a full week of rehearsals starting with the conductor, John Wilson, putting us through our paces on Monday … Continue reading →

Posted in Brilliant, Intellectual, links, New Dublin Voices and other choral singing, reviews and reports, Technical, what I'm up to | Leave a comment

Pure beauty

Posted on 10 August 2011 by

Nothing for weeks, and now two posts in as many minutes! Just saw that Michael McGlynn had posted this. Knowing some of the strange and awful things I’ve gotten wind of from Michael before (I’m thinking of a particularly hideous … Continue reading →

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Gotye and Jacob Moon

Posted on 10 August 2011 by

Great/brilliant song by Belgian/Australian singer/songwriter Gotye (his spelling of the French name ‘Gaultier’). I was watching the video (posted on Facebook by my musical maven friend, Jill Deering) and thinking he looked a bit like Sting, just without the high … Continue reading →

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4 in a Bar

Posted on 18 June 2011 by

I supported the barbershop quartet, 4 in a Bar, at their CD launch at The Workman’s Club on Wednesday. I did my three best Sting covers: ‘Roxanne’, ‘Seven Days’ (with obligatory story…), and ‘Message In A Bottle’. I also did … Continue reading →

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Jonny Boyle

Posted on 15 June 2011 by

It’s my friend Jonny Boyle’s birthday today. He is a brilliant guitar player—melodic, jazzy, and musical beyond belief. He is doing a couple of workshops in his home town of Carrickfergus on 25 June, one called ‘Jazz Up The Blues’ … Continue reading →

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Ecstasy

Posted on 24 May 2011 by

John Adams gave the commencement speech at Juilliard this week, where he was being presented with an honorary doctorate (along with the amazing Herbie Hancock—if you love music, get his album ‘The Imagine Project’). It’s a great speech about being … Continue reading →

Posted in Brilliant, composers, Intellectual | Leave a comment

The Good Book

Posted on 24 May 2011 by

AC Grayling, one of my very favourite writers and thinkers, talked at the Sydney Writer’s Festival yesterday about his latest work, the culmination of three decades of living as a philosopher. In ‘The Good Book’, Grayling aims to open up … Continue reading →

Posted in Brilliant, Intellectual, togetherness | Leave a comment

50 people, one question

Posted on 19 May 2011 by

A beautiful video. If you haven’t watched it, then please do before you read on. The thing that struck me was the pacing of the video. We don’t hear the question until almost three minutes in. When we do, we … Continue reading →

Posted in Brilliant, Ethical, Technical, togetherness | Leave a comment

Cuban Landscape with Rain

Posted on 16 May 2011 by

A beautiful performance of Leo Brouwer’s ‘Cuban Landscape with Rain’ by Dublin Guitar Quartet. I came across Leo Brouwer’s work while helping catalogue guitar music at The Victorian Music Library in Melbourne in November. One afternoon I popped out for … Continue reading →

Posted in Brilliant, composers, lovely performances, Technical | Leave a comment