Up & Running

At last, the website is up and running! It's exciting to be a part of the 'online community' - now that I am 'blogging' I can give my son Ben a run for his money! (for his writings, blogs and amazing poetry etc check out www.poetryfix.wordpress.com). Hmmm. It's all about 'ruthless self-promotion' it seems. But there it is...

Oh - I'm told that within 24 hours the address for this site should change to 'chrislongmusic.co.uk', so fingers crossed...

I thought I'd make my first post about an article I read last month. We don't usually 'take The Times' at Aphelion Towers, but somehow a copy found it's way in; this article by James Rhodes seemed very timely (pun intended). In it he extols the virtues of learning to play an instrument (the piano) or simply just 'getting some art into your life': an inspiring sentiment for the start of a new year. If you find the article inspiring, and live local to Pershore and fancy exploring his ideas of learning to play - I'd love to hear from you! 

You can find the article here - http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/homes_and_gardens/article1650693.ece- but it's only an extract, so I've taken some photos of the whole thing...

Incidentally, James Rhodes' biography 'Instrumental' is a harrowing but rewarding read. Not for the prudish - he details his 'abused childhood' quite relentlessly  - but his message of 'salvation through music' is a powerful one, and I for one have discovered some new and beautiful music through the ideas in the book and through listening to his albums - at least 3 of those pieces are now in my concert repertoire (try his performance of Silotti's arragement of this amazing Bach Bm Prelude, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgsnDi_Ojag) . His manner of presenting Classical music - lots of expletives and a bit too 'cool for school' for my liking - isn't to everyone's taste, but at least he's shaking up the Classical music world a bit... and he don't play too badly, either...