Day 1

All ready to go! Heloise (singer) and I are meeting at Euston station to take the train to Glasgow, where we’ll be meeting Anne and Marianne (harp and double bass), who are driving from Reading with the big instruments.

5 hours later, and… we’re in Glasgow! Off to pick up the hire car for the week, then tomorrow the work begins with a composition workshop at Glasgow University.

Day 2

We had a great workshop today with postgrad composition students Kevin Leomo and Alison Beattie, workshopping pieces written specially for us – what a treat! Now to drive to Skye – one of the longest trips of our tour at about 6 hours in total.

The reality of being on the road soon sets in. Luckily, there are some stunning views along the way!

We arrive at Skye around 9pm, and grab a quick dinner in the local pub. Luckily we have some time during the day tomorrow to rest up (and catch up on admin…) after the long journey, and then we have our first concert in the evening.

Day 3

We decided to take a walk on the beautiful island to get some fresh air – the farm dog even joined us for the stroll!

Our first concert venue was the local church, which was a bit chilly! The audience were lovely, and we had a great first gig. On to Crieff tomorrow!

Day 4

Another car lunch, but spirits are high, as you can just make out through the car windows/rain. Another drive of about 6 hours to get to our next venue, including a petrol stop at an unmanned fuel pump in the snow.

Heloise wasn’t feeling so well on the journey down, and during our concert in Crieff she unfortunately lost her voice – leading Anne and I to fill some of the second half of the concert with some solo pieces, in addition to some of the repertoire we already had for the three instruments. We are back to Glasgow tomorrow, and so tonight will be spent planning an alternative programme in case Heloise’s voice doesn’t return…

Stay tuned to find out what happens next!