During today's summer school, Emma Welton led a workshop session which was a culmination of the work the groups had previously done with me on timbre and colours. I was impressed by the way Emma has the ability to allow space for things to happen- to allow the moment of things getting stuck to be there and then, perhaps pass, or just to be. All the group were improvising around a colour and a simple direction such as 'mostly silence' or 'B flat'. It was a long session and afterwards, some people said some things such as 'it was really tiring' 'it was relaxing' 'it was awkward' 'I loved that bit when...' 'It was interesting to see what other people thought the colours were because I think blue is this but others thought it was that' 'I didn't know what to do' - that all these things, conflicting things - existed in the same space. I got the feeling that everyone was involved, even if they felt they didn't know how to be. The thing is, there is no right or wrong in that situation. It can be difficult to feel comfortable with that, and to work out what to do with that.

'When music and courtesy are better understood and appreciated, there will be no war.'

Confucius (551-478 BC)

I'm looking forward to October, where I have my annual dose of Gilbert and Sullivan and spend a week in a slightly loopy alternative reality playing in the pit band at the Barnfield Theatre for the St David's players G and S production. (hm, that sentence was too long!) www.stdavidsplayers.co.uk  Lots of fantastic singers, including Carolyn Harries and Ian Spackman. And all wonderfully musically directed this year by Nicky Perry. 

I have been invited to put together 3 concerts for Lympstone Entertainments. I'm really excited about performing such a variety of music in the great acoustic of Lympstone Parish Church. I've called the programme 'One Flute, Many Voices' as I find the link between singing and playing very engaging. The voice aspect of music makes me think about many things: reasonance, communication, the many different voices of the flute across the centuries, continents and styles. I will put a complete programme for each concert up here soon.
ONE FLUTE, MANY VOICES
The programme for the series:

Sunday, 22nd September 4-5pm
Ruth Molins flute
Susie Hodder-Williams flute
Emma Welton violin
Hilary Boxer cello
Baroque Voices
J. S. Bach, Telemann & Boismortier. Trios & Quartets

Sunday, 20th October 4-5pm
Ruth Molins solo flute, alto flute & piccolo
Music Old & New
J. S. Bach, Daniel Dorff & Michael Colquhoun. Tweets & Special Birds

Sunday, 10th November 4-5pm
Ruth Molins flute
David Cottam classical guitar
Hilary Boxer cello
Flute, Jet Whistle & Tango - Festive Music to warm your soul!
J. S. Bach, Piazzolla & Villa Lobos

Lympstone Parish Church
Tickets £16 for the series, or £7 per concert (under 16s £10/£5)
from Shears’ Café, Lympstone (not Weds) or from John Welton, 1 Harefield Cottages
01395 271 915 (johnwelton68@gmail.com)

I'm looking forward to tutoring on the summer chamber music course next week - 4 days of creating music and sharing new experiences!

At the moment I am sitting in a sunny French garden, in a little village near the foret de Rambouillet. It feels so right to practice my taffenel and gaubert here and to be reading michel debost's illuminating, humorous and useful book 'the simple flute'.

This week has been a culmination of many many months of researching and ruminating - I have found my new flute. It has been quite a worrying time for me, I realise there has been a lot at stake. I have come to realise how my flute is an extension of me, of my voice, my body. It is something that I have to physically live with everyday, and it is a sound that I find very personal and sometimes extraordinary. In the end I have found a flute which I find to have a resonance that really switches me on, a flute that does twice what I expect it to do with the action that I put in! Exciting! In the photo I think I'm trying to lose gravity as I feel the surge of the soaring column of air going on in my flute! It's so exciting to feel such a smooth flow of energies. It's surprising! And gives me so much to work on and explore! After feeling sick with all the excitement and worry and confusion and emotion and the responsibility of making such a decision (not just musically and personally, but also in terms of money and priorities) I come out the other side realising that this is a major life affirmation: this is my voice and  this is who I am and there's so much to do!