We're off to Scotland!

As part of the exciting preparation for our new project, 'The Pheasant's Eye', we need to do some research! I'm not sure that many people imagine musicians researching. Practising, yes, (so much practising!) rehearsing, yes, and of course performing. But actually, when you're primarily an Early musician, you don't just have all your music ready-made, waiting for you! And in fact, it would be rather boring if we did... So, in fact, a surprising proportion of our working life is spent as music historians, exploring undiscovered or lesser known areas of repertoire, and finding ways of programming them to make them most attractive to potential audiences. For me, that's a joy - I am a trained historian as well as a musician, and I often find there's nothing more exhilarating than sitting with eighteenth century musical scores, getting up close to the aged pages (!), and feeling that bit closer to the music itself...

So, next week, Tom and I are making a trip to the Wighton Centre in Dundee to explore the Wighton Collection, an internationally important collection of Scottish music from the 18th and early 19th centuries, donated by a Dundee merchant and music collector. Just our cup of tea! It was the Wighton Collection which has provided us with photographs of the original Oswald 'Airs for the Seasons', and there are no doubt countless other gems to discover. We owe so much to the tireless While we're there, the Friends of Wighton have kindly offered us a short lunchtime recital in their purpose-built performance room. We'll give a little taster of our duo programme, 'The Pheasant's Eye'.

The following day, we're performing as part of the St Andrews Music Society series, at the lovely Byre Theatre. To find out more, and for concert details, head to our concerts page, where you can find links to the Friends of Wighton, who have a brilliant website.