House Concerts with Robin Hill

Isn't it strange how trends ebb and flow over hundreds of years?
Here I am about to discuss a phenomena that has taken America by storm and is beginning to make waves here in the UK.

A house concert is literally that.
A concert in your own home.
You don't even need a particularly large space as the whole point is to create an intimate environment in which to enjoy live music.
Think miniature Carnegie or Wigmore Hall in your own living room.

Generally these are private events and all that is needed is a reasonably sized group of friends to share the experience with you.

But in the area of classical music, this is certainly nothing new.
Musicians toured, performing at peoples homes as a matter of course, through the 16th/17th/18th and 19th Centuries.
Frequently they would compose a piece of music specifically for their host or patron, sometimes to celebrate a particular event.
For example, John Dowland's, 'The Earl of Essex Galliard' and 'Mrs Vaux's Gigge'.

Whilst lutenists may have paved the way, the guitar is ideally suited to concerts in intimate environments where it can be heard at its unamplified best.

Robin is used to performing concerts in a variety of settings.
From major venues with audiences in the thousands, (I think the largest being with Pavarotti were there were 25 000, and 3 500 for a performance of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez with the Liverpool Philharmonic, and I don't know how many when he played the James Bond theme at the Proms in the Park, London!).
Or T.V. shows beamed to 6 million viewers (admittedly he couldn't see them all but he knew they were there...), to average sized smaller venues of a couple of hundred people.

But Robin, like many musicians, actually enjoys performing in smaller settings.
To be able to see the audience, (stage lights usually mean you can't make out any details past the first few rows), and receive immediate feedback, is very rewarding.
Robin has actually frequently performed what are now called, 'House Concerts'. Often they have been associated with events, an example being a surprise birthday party for a lifelong guitar enthusiast and maker.
You can imagine how pleased he was to find Robin in his lounge, right in front of him, and to have the chance to speak to him between pieces!

So now you can take advantage of the centuries old tradition of holding your very own House Concert.
For anyone with an interest in music, the guitar in particular, the opportunity to observe a performance in such close proximity, and have the chance to talk to Robin about technique, hand positions, scales and arpeggios, the price of fish.. whatever you like really, would be highly enjoyable for both parties.

Neither does it matter where you live.
Robin performs all over the world as it is.
We would simply tie it in with his schedule, or even promote a tour simply for house concerts in your area/country.
All you have to do is contact me to discuss availability, length of concert required etc. I should also point out that it won't cost the host house anything! All will be explained when you contact me.
It really is that simple. Steve Lawson (solobasssteve), has recently toured the US, organising many of his house concerts through twitter whilst en route!

So contact me, in whatever format you prefer....
Give it a try and be the envy of your friends!

I've Been Tagged

Yesterday I had a message over on Twitter from Paize_Fiddler.
I'd been tagged on his blog, 'Free Spirit'.

For those not familiar with tagging, you could read, 'What is a Blog Meme?' by Chris Garrett, or, 'Blog-Tag: A Game for a virtual Cocktail Party,' on The Jeff Pulver Blog, or even, '8 Random Facts About Me (tagging meme)', on James Cridland's blog.

My brief was, "to write six things about me personally, that my readers might not know", and then, 'tag' six other twitter/blogger friends and make them 'it'.

My initial reaction was mixed.
I was delighted to have been chosen from all the people out there in the blogosphere, but also concerned, as the message arrived in the frantic 24 hours that always occur prior to Robin going away for a concert.

So we used the journey to the airport constructively, to come up with my six, 'things about me'.

1) I have known Robin since I was 7 years old!!!

2) I completed writing a book a short time ago, (which has nothing to do with music...), and in the next few weeks will be ready to send it off and try my luck with an agent.

3) As a teenager I was asked to be the lead vocalist in a rock band. When I questioned the fact that they had never heard me sing, they said, "It doesn't matter no one will be able to hear you anyway!"

4) I have a degree in Psychology which has proved extremely helpful in understanding the mind of a musician....

5) At the age of 16 I took two jobs, whilst continuing to study, to pay for my first classical guitar. One in a shoe shop (which I hated) the other as a breakfast waitress, (I was terrible. I'm not good at early mornings, and kept dropping very hot boiled eggs into the laps of business men...)

6) In an ideal world I would have 4 dogs, a couple of horses and a few cats.

So there we are, my six things.
The next stage was to tag six more people.
This is the part that I have found most difficult.
Who do you choose?
All the people I know in the blogging/twittering world are all very busy.
Will they be pleased to be picked, or, annoyed at the intrusion.
I decided to go with my gut instinct.
Most people recognise that participating in such events only helps to promote their particular cause.

So, here they are:

1)Jessica Duchen. 'Jessica Duchen's Classical music blog'. Because I am a great admirer of her blog/books/articles and she is currently thinking about ways forward with her writing.

2)Solobasssteve. Steve Lawson, found on twitter here, or his website here. Because Steve is a prolific twitterer, web enthusiast and a consultant/thinker in social media, and I'm sure will have an opinion on the whole thing.

3)Audio aka Chris Hambly, and Chris's site here. Because Chris is a web developer and specializes in marketing, search optimisation etc. So should understand...

4) MadViolinist, Ben Clapton. Also a blogger friend, 'Top Left Hand Page'. Because Ben is currently running a really nice series on his blog, called, 'On This Day...' and it may help people to find it.

5) warofthewords. Naomi Fox. Because Naomi is in a very similar position to me, in that she spends a great deal of time promoting her husband's work, and I'm full of admiration at what she manages to achieve! Wire Duck Records.

6) aribadler. Ari also has a blog, 5 Ws, and is a former newspaper reporter and a media-relations professional, so maybe he can use the experience of tagging in one of his lectures.

So there we are.
The six people that I have now made 'it'.
I now have to go off and email them all, grovel a little, and hope that they see the positive side to the whole thing!
Hopefully they will link back if/when they accept the challenge so that we can gain a little insight into their approach.

Ohh, and by the time I finally get this post published, Robin should have arrived in Rome!