Wednesday 28 June 2006

Driving back from Crail with Andrew after dropping in on the rehearsal for Arvo Pärt's Stabat Mater with Paul Hillier and co. A quick chance to say hello to everyone and swap CD-ROMs with DG (John Purser's brand new edition of Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion for a Cimarosa piece with two flutes we're doing in Nova Scotia in a few weeks), before leaving them to it. I think this is the first ever Concerto Caledonia gig in 14 years that I'm not playing in: it's very nice just to sit at the back for a few minutes and watch someone else's rehearsal, with no current musical responsibilities at all. It's also very tempting to stay around the East Neuk of Fife on such a perfect summer's night, but Andrew and I both have to get home ...

Earlier today a rather large cheque that I'd posted to him about 6 weeks ago (and which included everyone's fees for the St John Passion) was finally delivered to his office after its journey about three miles across Glasgow. Of course we'd stopped the cheque as soon as it went missing so everyone got paid anyway, but at the time it was hassle I could have done without.

But yesterday included a nice surprise as I was cycling into the Academy in the sunshine: not only did I bump into various singer and dancer pals on the way, but as I came through Chinatown there was a Chinese dragon dancing in the road, performing with props of an orange, a grapefruit, some greens and a can of Budweiser. It drank the Budweiser and then spat it out across the street. You don't get to see this sort of thing if you take the bus.