March 2025
I am pleased to report that I survived March! Despite not having a single day off, I have made it through and am feeling only slightly run down and sniffly. My day of rest is only four days away though, so the end is in sight.
Once again, March began with a Bovidae gig, this time for International Women’s Day at a half-dayer festival at Corporation celebrating women in our local music scene. We rubbed shoulders with some incredible musicians and I was really proud of my bandmates for delivering an absolute belter of a set.
Thanks Theo KM Photos for these awesome shots which really capture the mystical energy we were trying to convey!
We also released our live video of our piece ‘Makes Me Think of Dinosaurs’ from our performance in London at the start of the year - you can watch it below. Thank you Talie and Moon Landing Video for this!
My next performance of the month was with Sheffield Singers as part of the Classical Sheffield weekend - a wonderful biannual event that celebrates classical music in the city and makes it accessible to everyone. In the Winter Gardens, different choirs were singing every half hour of the day - our slot was at midday and there was a really great turnout. We performed an eclectic mix of genres but the standout song for me was the Cantique de Jean Racine by Faure - this was the piece I was most nervous about playing but I was proud that all my practising paid off! You can watch it below - I am hiding at the back but you can still hear the piano!
Songwriting fun
My choir concert was taking up a lot of my practising time so after it was over I used a bit of the extra headspace I now had to do a song writing session with my friend Marcus, who I used to be in a band with many moons ago. He writes songs both for himself and for various other local artists and I was happy to be able to add a few ideas to the songs he was currently working on. This is a very different process to solo composition, but I think collaboration forces you to think outside of your own musical comfort zone, which can only be a good thing. Hopefully I’ll be able to share some of these projects with you in future!
Experiencing live music of all varieties!
As well as performing with the choir and my two bands, I managed to witness three amazing gigs as an audience member. Firstly the wonderful Sieben at the Samuel Worth Chapel - he is an actual wizard on the electric violin and the magic he works with the loop pedal is just out of this world. If you ever get the chance to watch him perform, you really should go - it’s like nothing you will have seen before.
Next, I popped over the Peak District to Manchester to watch Bill Laurance and Michael League (of Snarky Puppy fame) perform at the Royal Northern College of Music. It was such a special gig, watching two great musicians communicate and converse through music. I really appreciated the spontaneity of the occasion, like we were seeing a real ‘one-off’ show.
Last but by no means least, I travelled to Worksop to watch my amazing piano teacher Heidi Rolfe perform a selection of works for four hands piano with her husband, Benjamin Frith. The programme included Holst’s ‘The Planets’ and a suite of never-before-performed works by local composer Martin Ellerby which were truly inspiring. When I have a bit more time in the summer, I am determined to get back to work on my own compositions. Of course I couldn’t video Heidi and Ben’s performance but here is a recording of a similar performance of theirs. This is for two pianos rather than four hands one piano, but the level of brilliance is the same. I am really, really lucky to have her as my teacher!
Bowie Blast Off
Following a sold-out warm-up gig at the Hallamshire Hotel on West Street on 21st March, the last musical adventure of the month was the annual Bowie Blast Off festival in Blackpool. This is the most special event in the calendar for The Bowie Contingent, both due to the sheer number of songs we have to learn (two headlining sets with no repeated songs), and because it is just so much fun! However, I am now feeling extremely sleep deprived - but it was so worth it. It’s always an impressively well-organised event, full of wonderfully enthusiastic Bowie fans both local and international - it really has become like a big family gathering. I am crossing my fingers we get invited back next year!
I think that’s enough for one month, anyway - I’m exhausted just writing this! I’m now looking forward to a slightly quieter April before it all gets hectic again in May. See you in a few weeks’ time!
