2018 is proving an interesting year for our adventures in music making.  Into which new directions can you take one voice and one single line instrument?  Well, the answer seems to be, quite a few!  The joy of working as a duo is that each person’s talents have room to be developed and made full use of.    This has certainly happened in our case, as we have become more comfortable with spreading our creative wings and turning our minds to new projects.  This has resulted in a side step into the world of outdoor, two-person mini opera in the shape of The Highland Fames (composed by Joanna, who also wrote the libretto), co-directed by Joanna and Frances – and performed (by us, of course), to enthusiastic audiences in the north east of Scotland, in the early part of what has been a beautiful summer.

A short composer residency awarded to Joanna at Woodend Barn, Banchory, has enabled new music to be added to our repertoire and this will be heard in our series of concerts in October as part of  The Night With…  Our programme here will include a new composition by Matthew Whiteside and, in another slightly new direction for us, the marrying of the sound of the solo clarinet with the beautiful, evocative poetry of Nan Shepherd.  It seems that the possibilities are little short of endless…

‘You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.’     Maya Angelou