Well, technically more like 9 days, but that just doesn’t roll off the tongue, or even the screen, as well, does it?

While there is a Kindred Spirit gig in the middle of there, the stretch of my musical life from this weekend to the weekend following is mostly about classical music – and classical viola at that.

This Saturday, 17 June, sees a fairly typical orchestral gig for me – this time accompanying the New Tottenham Singers in Vivaldi’s Gloria, plus Barber’s Adagio, Gershwin songs (for choir, with and without orchestra) and a Wizard of Oz medley. Notable for a smaller orchestra than most of the choral society concerts I do (only as large as the Vivaldi dictates), which makes a nice change from spreading Romantic forces, and for probably the largest proportion of in-house arrangements / additional transcriptions of any gig where I haven’t been doing at least some of the arranging myself! Also for the unusually civilised touch of bothering to get the orchestral musicians together for two rehearsals, one in advance of the concert date, to be able to sort out any real problems, and paying proportionately more than your typical afternoon rehearsal – evening gig one-day booking, while leaving the other Saturday evening opening for another gig if needs be.

However, it’s after that that the performance machine really kicks in (rehearsals for some items on the following list have already started). On Wednesday 21 June I make my full-length recital début! playing my ATCL (Trinity performance diploma) viola programme entire, at the Cramphorn Studio in Chelmsford. If you’re up that way and free at lunchtime, please come along at 1 and give me some support and feedback, as well as enjoying the excellent Chad Vindin on piano, who I’ve managed to secure as sparring partner for that date. More on that recital series here and its organiser here.

On the following Saturday afternoon, 24 June, I’m performing a couple of numbers in a mixed chamber music programme at Putney Methodist Church:

My involvement includes a couple of movements from a trio by J S Bach’s only composer grandson, in which the viola as lowest instrument gets to pretend to be a cello and play bass lines, and the main work (a sonata by Hummel) from said diploma programme – this time teaming up with Roger Beeson.

I’ll be heading straight from that concert to soundcheck with Kindred Spirit for a high-profile gig, a whole evening’s proper ticketed performance (you even get some free food with your entry) up the river in Twickenham (see Facebook event). Expect all the usual things from that band in a sympathetic setting, with a heavy emphasis on Elaine’s originals (particularly compared to bar gigs) but some carefully selected covers too, plenty of folksy instrumental sections and oodles of electric violin and flute duelling / soloing.

The following afternoon (Sunday 25 June, keep up) sees me round off the series by heading up to north London for a showcase concert of pupils of my viola teacher, Marie de Bry.

I’ll nearly get to complete a second round of the diploma programme with the two afternoon concerts together, here teaming up with ‘house pianist’ Gabija Butkute to play Vieuxtemps’ ‘Elégie’ and Piston’s ‘Interlude’ – the latter of which I will warn you now Google will not yield much about, not even a professional recording on Spotify or Youtube. You’ll have to turn up and hear it played live! The only piece left ‘out in the cold’ appearing only in the full performance in Chelmsford is Bridge’s Allegro appassionato – which I love, but is under 3 minutes long and liable to be first to get cut in programming.

Of course, in a sense that’s not it. The real destination of the list is me taking the ATCL exam on 7 July. But I can’t invite anyone along to that, so little point publicising it!