Musical snobbery is an easy trap to fall into. It’s something I have been guilty of in the past, but many things have taught me that preference is very different to pride. As musicians we should show mutual respect and encouragement at all levels, and in all genres. My road to humility started early and took longer than it should have - but it had it’s funny moments and I think I learned my lesson in the end!

Our home reflects our love of The Lord of the Rings and all things Tolkien. From swords, sketches, jigsaw and embroideries to elf runes painted over the front door. However, it is only since a different piano syllabus (that I don’t usually work with) was brought to my attention, that I would ever have thought of playing any arrangement of the music from the soundtrack to the films. It has reminded me that sometimes it is good to simply play for pleasure - no educational agenda, just playing for the love of the music. I have so enjoyed playing this piano arrangement of ‘In Dreams’ and I hope that you enjoy it too!

Mozart, Leonardo da Vinci, Gray’s Anatomy; browsing through my bookcases at the work of such luminary characters had me wondering whether they had more time back in bygone eras. I’m sure they had the same twenty four hours in each day, but I can’t help feeling that their days passed more slowly. The hours of solitude for deep work and solid concentration that they had in order to create their great works seems out of our reach in the hectic world we now live in. I find myself longing for uninterrupted study time and the need to detox from fractured concentration. I think we have much to inspire us and to motivate us as we look back at the lives of these great people.