Well we are now officially 25 days away from Christmas and I haven’t written
a card or bought a present or anything. Hope to hit the shops at the
weekend.
I have, fortunately, other things to think about as well as Christmas. A
certain Piano Diploma which I’m trying on Friday. Very nervous but will do
my best. At least the practice is going well and the good thing that it is
also doing is increasing my typing speed. My fingers feel so supple and
elastic with all the stretching and turning my hands in different directions
that when I get on the computer following a Piano practice session my typing
speed definitely increases.
Apart from Piano practice at the moment, nothing much else happening in my
world. Still no news re the concert next year which my name has been put
forward for. I am almost afraid to think about it I want it so much but I
will just have to wait and see what happens.
I know I have said this before on my blog but I still feel that blind and
partially sighted musicians do not get the opportunities they deserve and if
they are good at performing, they are considered to be some sort of freak.
It is such a shame that some people don’t realise that blind and partially
sighted performers are just the same as the next average person and they
have the same hopes and ambitions.
Speaking of musicians generally, I love hearing about exciting things that
young musicians are doing whether they are blind or partially sighted or
not. In terms of mainstream activities of musicians, and now referring to
fully-sighted performers, I am particularly interested in the career of the
young Scottish Bassoonist KarenGeoghegan. Karen seems to be taking the
classical music profession in her stride and to promote the Bassoon as a
solo instrument appears to be one of her missions in life which I think is
wonderful. If anyone who knows me reads this and would like to give me
Karen’s latest CD for Christmas, it would be a very welcome present. I feel
inspired by people like Karen and also by Evelyn Glennie. They are so
focused in what they believe in and can also put these things into words.
This is something which I feel about singing but cannot always explain. I
just know that I want to promote the abilities of blind performers as
soloists. To me it is not enough to just be a member of a Choir or a group,
good as all that is, I want to be taking that solo part in whatever the
performance may be.
Anne.