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   We have spent the last few days in focused rehearsals and coachings, as well as going down to the pier for dips in the sea, walks and games of Pictionary. Our coachings have been incredibly valuable and exciting; we have received lots of detailed insight alongside broader musical ideas, and we even ended up adding lyrics to acting out the first movement of our wind quintet by Reicha! On Monday’s sharing of music with the other groups we revived the David Walter’s arrangement of Dvoraks American Quartet. In the spirit of appropriating string pieces, Ralph took us through the Schubert String Quintet on Tuesday, and while it resulted in reading the wrong clefs and transposition, we are very jealous of the string players. On Wednesday, we had a wonderful masterclass with Tim and Scott.

The quintet has been really looking forward to coming to Coll since we found out about it. We all met up in Oban, after a pit stop in Glasgow staying with Raj’s family, and had a lovely fish and chips before an early night. We arrived at Coll in the morning and had the day to settle in. We enjoyed taking in the breathtaking views followed by some personal practise and rehearsal. We are now in a good flow, and are excited for a week of rehearsals and concerts!!

Sunday

Following a swim last night, Raj, Sofía and Emily went for a morning run and jump into the pier before starting rehearsals for the day. We had our first coaching with the amazing Tim Brown, and are excited to get working on his suggestions. We finished the day with a walk and some Pictionary.