There is no disputing that it's been a hard year all round and our hopes of being back to some kind of 'normality' have been set back once again as we find ourselves in the UK in a second period of lockdown, along with other countries around the world. We pray that the measures put in place will work for us all and we will come out the other side of it with an end in sight.
However, there have been many positives to take away from the year, as we have all had to learn new skills and seek out new ways of adapting to working and enjoying the things we love under the restrictions we face. One such silver lining is that we have been able to forge new relationships and collaborate with some fine fellow musicians around the world who have produced some wonderful new recordings of our music.
These new recordings have stemmed from projects we ran during lockdown in the summer in the hope of inspiring musicians to produce and learn new music ... an 'Organ Music competition' and a 'Summer Song Series' project. Our 'Organ Music' competition was a resounding success we are pleased to say and you can hear some very fine recordings of the winning pieces on our YOUTUBE CHANNEL (a little heads up for all you organists out there - we will be running another competition in the New Year so keep your ears to the ground!!).
We rarely receive recordings of our songs, and so we were particularly pleased to hear from a wonderful Baritone, Mark Cotton, and his accompanist, Shannon Murphy, from the US, who strived very hard and over several months to be able to produce recordings of a trio of 'Songs from the Countryside' ... and hopefully there will be more to come from them in the future!
We are also very grateful to Edgar Highberger who, after becoming one of our organ customers in the Summer, wanted to include Tim (yes, it should be Knight, not Wright!) in his article on 'British Organ Literature' and he just made it in time for the release of the November issue of the American Guild of Organists magazine! Edgar's piece is a very interesting read about British Organ Composers and their music from the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries.
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the people who have supported us throughout this year and those that have taken the time to make and send us their recordings and taken an interest in our projects and music ... of which there will be more to come!
By the way ...... if anyone asks you what you want for Christmas then maybe point them in the direction of our new 'GIFT IDEAS' page !!
Music is a valuable and proven aid to stimulate our emotions and improve our well-being and we count ourselves lucky that we are in the business of writing, publishing, performing and sharing this wonderful art form with fellow musicians, choral groups and friends around the world. Keep safe and well everyone.