Waterford Tech Meetup, Waterford Treasures Museum, Tuesday, June 13 at 7pm Food, drinks, spot prizes and two fantastic tech talks – Johan Bency from VROMO will…
But courage comes before confidence – as I discovered with my friend and colleague Lucy Russell. Internationally recognised violinist and leader of the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, Lucy is no stranger to improvisatory music. But despite her ability to play divisions in 17
th century repertoire, her flair for baroque ornamentation and her experience in collaborating with composers, Lucy felt unable to play completely ‘off the sheet’. Talking about this, she expressed a tangible fear: she believed she could not do it.
Lockdown provided a unique opportunity to grasp that nettle. When she came to stay last summer I insisted we just try it. We started in Dorian Mode, and within moments we were off. Since then, we have explored many different ideas and her confidence levels are through the roof! As Lucy puts it, ’These improvisation ideas are musical life-savers, providing a fantastic opportunity to try things out in a non-pressured way. Doing this now with my students has enabled