Photo Yongxin Chen |
Sunday 18 October 2015
Xuefei Yang - fabulous concert at Turner Sims hosted by Southampton Classical Guitar Society
Labels:
De Falla,
Paganini,
SCGS,
trad. Chinese music,
Turner Sims,
Xuefei Yang
Sunday 11 October 2015
Vulcan - nothing to do with guitars at all
Here I am having a pint, nothing odd there - but note the camera poised for action. I'm one of several other people and they all had cameras poised. The lady behind me only seems casually chatting - she was synchronising with someone further up the flightpath and it was her who spotted it first.
So here's my tiny film of it:
Friday 11 September 2015
Classical Guitar in The Merchant's House Marlborough
The panelled walls and solid wooden floor of this extraordinary room made the guitar sound amazing. I was using the Carlevaro which meant I could hear the sound myself, The audience was keen to know how it was making any sound without a sound hole and it generated great interest when they realised there was a gap all around the edge. Quite a sizeable group came up in the interval to have a closer look.
It was very nice to find that there were also audience members present who had been to see me, in past years, at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Marlborough has a wide, spectacular, beautiful High Street and this 17th century house is a gem, right in the middle of it.
The Merchant's House Trust is gradually restoring the whole building to its original condition, commissioning the best conservation experts and craftsmen. Several rooms are already finished and more are in the planning stage.
But look at that floor! The house is like a wooden ship inside, the floors go up and down and creak like anything but in a good way.
It was a lovely venue to play in and a privilege to contribute to the fundraising effort that is keeping the house in such fine order.
It was very nice to find that there were also audience members present who had been to see me, in past years, at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Marlborough has a wide, spectacular, beautiful High Street and this 17th century house is a gem, right in the middle of it.
The Merchant's House Trust is gradually restoring the whole building to its original condition, commissioning the best conservation experts and craftsmen. Several rooms are already finished and more are in the planning stage.
But look at that floor! The house is like a wooden ship inside, the floors go up and down and creak like anything but in a good way.
It was a lovely venue to play in and a privilege to contribute to the fundraising effort that is keeping the house in such fine order.
Sunday 30 August 2015
Equipment failure at a crucial moment
Hurrying down the Grassmarket after my performance, I was on my way to get filmed for STV, when the guitar-containing bit of my guitar case fell onto the cobbles with a bang leaving me with just a handle in my hand.
Red Dog Music happens to be at the bottom of the Grassmarket so hugging my now uncarry-able case I went in there.
It's quite nice to be forced to buy something new from a music shop although I was in such a hurry I probably seemed like I'd spent the day thus far drinking black coffee.
Thank you Red Dog, for saving my sanity. I only had to carry the guitar in the hugging fashion for one more day and then I was able to pick up a lovely new replacement. This time I've gone for a Hiscox. Not that there was anything wrong with the Gator - it had seen a lot of action and safely protected my guitar to Adelaide and and Toronto and back.
And seeing as I'd been thinking that I should save my wrists and fingers I also got a sling for it and now I can carry it hands free - much better for eating chips and icecream and so on.
Red Dog Music happens to be at the bottom of the Grassmarket so hugging my now uncarry-able case I went in there.
It's quite nice to be forced to buy something new from a music shop although I was in such a hurry I probably seemed like I'd spent the day thus far drinking black coffee.
Thank you Red Dog, for saving my sanity. I only had to carry the guitar in the hugging fashion for one more day and then I was able to pick up a lovely new replacement. This time I've gone for a Hiscox. Not that there was anything wrong with the Gator - it had seen a lot of action and safely protected my guitar to Adelaide and and Toronto and back.
And seeing as I'd been thinking that I should save my wrists and fingers I also got a sling for it and now I can carry it hands free - much better for eating chips and icecream and so on.
Labels:
black coffee,
chips,
cobbles,
Gator,
Grassmarket,
Hiscox,
ice-cream,
sanity,
STV
Sunday 23 August 2015
I'm on the telly - on the STV Player for a few more days...
If you missed my appearance, you used to be able to scroll through the episodes for Monday 17 August (7.05 pm) - and find me in the same line-up as Mark Thomas and the magician Pete Firmin but it's too late now so I've removed the link. I played a truncated version of the Turlough O'Carolan pieces. Why truncated? Things have to fit very precisely into TV programmes! After we did the first take the producer asked me if I could lop 15 seconds off. So we did another take and, at the end of that, he zoomed over from behind the monitor and asked if I could lop another 10 seconds off. So I played it again and left out another repeat, hoping it would fit and was still making sense...
Yes. Nervewracking but it was fun to do and the crew were fantastic. Here they are sorting out all the technical stuff...
Yes. Nervewracking but it was fun to do and the crew were fantastic. Here they are sorting out all the technical stuff...
Labels:
comedian,
magician,
Mark Thomas,
Pete Firman,
Scottish Television,
STV
Saturday 8 August 2015
Great review in today's Scotsman!
I got an axciting tip-off last night from a friend who has an inside contact at The Scotsman that I was getting a review and that it was favourable. So I was up early this morning and here I am reading it at the crack of dawn... and for those who can't get hold of a copy of the paper, here it is:-
Classical
Guitar – Jonathan Prag
C Too (Venue 4) ****
C Too (Venue 4) ****
Even in these
early days of the festival, a simple show can feel so refreshing. Classical
guitarist Jonathan Prag is a Fringe stalwart, and his daily lunchtime solo
recital feels a bit like a cool breeze of sanity amid the Edinburgh mayhem.
That's not to say Prag is unambitious: he delivers a wide-ranging programme
journeying from music by 17th century blind Irish harpist, Turlough
O'Carolan through to a flashy showpiece from the 1980s by Russian composer
Nikita Koshkin. But it's the quiet authority with which he plays and his
natural unforced musicality, that mark his show out. He gives gentle but
characterful accounts of two tunes by O'Carolan and picks out voices
sensitively in a rippling Bach Fugue and Allegro. His command of tone colour is
impressive in Barrios's 'La Catedral', especially a beautifully fluid
transition into ringing harmonics, and he ends his programme with a nicely
characterful 'Suite Del Recuerdos' by Jose Luis Merlin, providing poignant
perspectives on the work's shifting moods and dance rhythms, put together in
memory of the Disappeared of Argentina. It’s Koshkin’s fiery, Poe-inspired ‘Usher
Waltz’ that’s most impressive though, slowly fracturing and disintegrating a
piquant waltz tune with all manner of grotesque effects, and drawing Prag’s
most extrovert performance. Elsewhere his playing can be a bit self-effacing,
even undemonstrative, but there’s no doubting his technical dexterity nor his
intense focus, and he has an easy, natural way of talking to his audience. For an
hour of calm thoughtfulness and yes, maybe a bit of introspection, Prag offers
something quite special.
[David
Kettle, The Scotsman 8 Aug. 2015]
Labels:
David Kettle,
four star,
review,
The Scotsman
Thursday 30 July 2015
Thursday 25 June 2015
Jonathan Prag Classical Guitar tickets now on sale at the Edinburgh Fringe
Time to be frantic again. Practising like crazy; yes. Scurrying to get publicity approved before the deadline; yes. Looking forward to getting back to Edinburgh; definitely. So here is a preview of this year's poster... or Purple Jon as it is known.
So the tickets are selling and I am tracking how many and as we speak it is up to 36. So I'm pleased about that and I hope to see lots of old faces and new faces - I shall be there from August 6 at St Columba's by the Castle again.
Buy your tickets here
So the tickets are selling and I am tracking how many and as we speak it is up to 36. So I'm pleased about that and I hope to see lots of old faces and new faces - I shall be there from August 6 at St Columba's by the Castle again.
Buy your tickets here
Sunday 14 June 2015
Classical guitar meets fine art in Bristol
Doing my best to blend in with King James 3rd of Denmark |
Magnificent piano painted by Burne-Jones |
So they were just a backdrop as I warmed up and prepared myself for the evening's concert; because upon the walls of the church hung an even more astounding exhibition of works by the artist Rachel Hemming-Bray
Rachel has spent two years drawing and painting the restorers at work. The results are extraordinary and a great crowd of people thronged the exhibition during the day. Her pictures were selling like hot cakes. The exhibition closed for the day at 5.00 pm and then the space was transformed into a concert hall. It was packed by the time I emerged from behind the Earl of Oxford's piano. My programme varied somewhat from the one I posted on my programmes page. I will update the details shortly. It was a most inspiring and hospitable atmosphere to give a concert in and I felt honoured to be playing there and sharing the spotlight with such a distinguished artist.
I'm still behind the piano at this point - being introduced |
Labels:
artist,
Bristol,
Burne-Jones,
Bush and Berry,
Farleigh,
picture restoring,
Rachel Hemming-Bray,
Restoration Studio
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