London Dispatches August 2013

Violin School.
In London last week, I met Simon Hewitt Jones, founder of  Violin School, London. You can hear Simon and his students in the short video posted above. Clearly passionate about teaching, Simon has launched his establishment at the emblematic address, Palace Street, a stones throw from  the Windsor residence. The street is home also to the newly opened St James Theatre and there are charming  coffee shops and pubs. The school uses some novel strategies to make it easy  for adults to access tuition. Check out the Violin Fundamentals Workshop, a half day. which should get any aspiring string player up and running . Travelling by Ryanair? No Violin- No problem. Violin School will lend you one.  Hewitt is also working on  a set of e learning tools that no doubt will be a useful addition to the resource bank of string educators.
In the meantime, the string corps of Violin School are perfectly placed to nip around and offer a serenade when the royal baby comes to visit his great granny.

Thinned Down: Time Out

The London listings magazine is no longer sold at newsagents but handed out free at tube stations one day a week.  Great I hear you say -But be warned, the print version is a  much slimmed down version of the original and not that easy to find if you aren't in town on distribution day. A single page of music listings directs you to a website page.  Last week, this page was less than comprehensive with no mention of an event at one of London's premier chamber  music venues.  Now, much as I embrace the online culture as much as anyone, (I am a blogger after all),  I miss holding between my thumbs and forefingers, a print version of the myriad of diversions offered on any given week in my favourite capital city. When travelling, it is'nt that easy to access free wi fi  and one is less likely to stumble on new experiences through a cyber surf.



Marina Laslo at Pizza Express

We love jazz and we love pizza. Both at the same time and our cup runneth over. We enjoyed the Russian chanteuse, Marino Laslo at Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho on August 6th. You can read a recent Telegraph article about Marina Laslo here  She was accompanied by a young quintet who I am guessing were local by their accents. They included piano bass and drums. and more unusually a violin and classical guitar. Ms Laslo looked on admiringly during the individual solo sections as if she was genuinely spellbound by the virtuosity of her accompanists

Opera Nova Debut at SJSS 
My report on Britten's Curlew River at St John's, Smith Square here.

Related Articles 
The Fellowship of the String  A report from the London Fiddle Convention 2013

London Calling   2011  Cathy's Reviews Trip to London