It's official - I'm going to Adelaide!

The Adelaide Fringe to be precise.

You can't argue with black and white. There I am listed in the Adelaide Fringe Programme 2014. I've always said it would be nice to miss out some of the dank dark chilly days of the British early Spring and have sunshine instead. Suddenly the arrangements need making.

 We need to see about accommodation and car hire and flights and visas and check the passport is not going to be out of date come the day...
I'm practising with great focus and determination so as to do Adelaide proud. I'm practising another from Vincent Lindsey-Clark's Fiesta Americana, called Vuelo de la Mariposa - a gorgeous piece with delicate cascades of harmonics and some quite fiendish arpeggios. Hence the Australian butterflies. (The one on the right has a cool name - the Ulysses butterfly).
I shall be appearing for one performance in each of five different venues across the two weekends of the Fringe. My first venue, on February 28th, is a quite extraordinary place in its own right - the Migration Museum at 82 Kintore Avenue. After that I drive to Auburn in the Clare Valley (a famous wine region - hurrah) to perform at HATS Courthouse Cultural Centre on March 1st - a great chance to see more of the area and quite possibly sample some wine! Mind you there might not be time. The next day I'm on at Trinity Sessions in Clarence Park so it's a drive back to Adelaide. Then we have a week to do some sightseeing before it's time to drive to McLaren Vale - another famous wine growing region! The venue there, on March 7th, is The Singing Gallery. Then back to Adelaide and the final show, on March 9th,  which is in the State Dining Room at Ayers House which is like a big National Trust place and the oldest such building in South Australia. It is all very exciting and I can't wait.

 

Pizza slices, cold beers, brownies, lemon drizzle cake and chilled rosé - the perfect classical guitar concert!

The scene at Wimborne St Giles as the concert draws to a close. The wine bottles are empty now; I've come back on for my encore and outside the midsummer evening is glowing. See that plate covered with foil? There were some homemade pizza slices left after the interval and people were stocking up with extra pieces to take home. I confess that there are two such plates in my dressing room (the back kitchen); one with pizza and the other with cake. It was a truly delightful concert experience. Allowing people to bring their own wine and beer is an inspired idea and selling delicious homemade snacks in the interval makes it into a real party. What a great place. That spectacular tapestry you can see on the wall behind me depicts the village, including the cows, black Labradors and hens. You see a bit more detail in the shot below.