News, snippets and gig updates from Simone!

January 2013

Happy New Year and a big hello to everyone who has taken part in the Young Voices Tour so far. We still have 12 concerts left to do so if you are at one of the events at the 02 Arena, Manchester MEN Arena or Sheffield Hallam FM Arena please give me a wave!

We are gearing up for our annual RNCM Day of Percussion which is on Sunday 10th February and promises to be a very exciting day indeed! It is our 21st anniversary and we are certainly going to celebrate it in style with classes from an amazing line up of artists - Birger Sulsbruck, Eric Sammut, Jim Kilpatrick, Ash Soan, Ensemble Bash and Ian Wright who is the founder of the event. There will be a record number of trade stands to visit and 2 interactive workshops as well as a thrilling finale - award-winning Ensemble Bash will present an exciting concert of music for percussion quartet followed by a lively session in the bar with Birger Sulsbruck and the RNCM Salsa Band. Bring your dancing shoes - it promises to be quite a night!!

I am incredibly excited to be performing in a very special concert at the RNCM to celebrate the 75th birthday of Tim Reynish on Saturday 9th March. I will be playing the beautifully descriptive concerto for marimba 'Journey Through a Japanese Landscape' by Thea Musgrave. The piece is a work that Tim commissioned for the RNCM Wind Orchestra and Evelyn Glennie in 1994 so I am really delighted to be playing it with the RNCM Wind Orchestra conducted by Clark Rundell. Tim was the Head of School of Wind, Brass and Percussion when I was a student at the RNCM and always was (and continues to be) a huge influence and inspiration for me so it makes the occasion very special for me and I'm really looking forward to it!

I hope to see you at an event soon!