Author: Zoë Tweed

Sylva Winds Blog #3

The last few days have sped by!
We performed the 1st and 2nd Movements of Butler’s Down Hollow Winds (DHW) to the other ensembles in an informal concert and were treated to some classical string repertoire which we were totally inspired by in return.

We have had fantastic coachings from Tim Brown (and a surprise coaching from Jonathan Tunnell) and we are really looking forward to performing all our repertoire in the 3 concerts during the week.

(Photos taken by the talented Inis Oírr Asano)

We’ve had some turbulent rehearsals due to the atmospheric pressure and occasion rain affecting our tuning (especially the reed players), but we are always up for a challenge!
A very unofficial Grade 1-athon is well underway with intensive private lessons from every member crammed into the schedule each day. The new and improved Sylva Winds lineup is as follows:
Flute – Rowan
Oboe – Zoë
Clarinet – Guylaine
Horn – Drake
Bassoon – Yi-Hsuan
You can find a riveting performance of bars 1-4 of the 1st Mvt of Butler’s Down Hollow Winds on our instagram – @sylvawinds – and we look forward to having the chance to present this alternative ensemble to the staff and our colleagues here on Coll at the end of the week…
Three of us so far have purchased Tunnell Trust merchandise (photographed here) and plan on wearing it for the rest of the week, so you will spot it more often from now on!
Thanks also to Yi-Hsuan, who over the last few days has been another guiding influence  teaching Mandarin inflections and pronunciation alongside Alexander Technique to her willing students (us).
In other news Jonathan Fong from (Asaka Quartet) had a masterclass with Drake in stone skimming yesterday evening, which they both enjoyed very much – another crucial skill to pick up while on the island.

Tomorrow will be the last day of rehearsals before the concerts begin, and we can’t wait!

Sylva Winds Blog #2

Our first full day at Music Coll was accompanied by what we are told is normal island weather – glorious sunshine followed by torrential rain, followed by glorious sunshine. Somehow the landscape of Coll makes even a downpour look atmospheric and refreshing…

We got down to work and had our first coaching with Tim Brown in the gorgeous main hall where we played the Comedy for Five Winds by Paul Patterson. Tim’s coaching was insightful and we are very much looking forward to our regular sessions with him for the rest of the week! We also experimented with using the large amount of space at our disposal and sent one player to each corner of the room while we rehearsed the Coleman Afro-Cuban Concerto. It was surprisingly difficult to stay in the groove in the faster movements, however the Vocalise was very well suited to the space.

We were easily persuaded to buy the Tunnell Trust embroidered t-shirts and hoodies (after getting caught in the rain!)  so you might spot the logo in any future photos.

The evening was concluded with our first visit to the very pleasant Coll Hotel Restaurant and Bar, which is located dangerously close to our accommodation. There we discovered a pool table and darts board – two essential skills that we are all looking forward to developing further. Rowan has already improved a great deal and managed to get all three darts on the board in a row!

Monday will involve an informal performance of Movements 1 & 2 of Martin Butler’s Down-Hollow Winds to the other musicians here with us and we are really looking forward to hearing all the ensembles play.

Sylva Winds Blog #1

We’ve arrived! After taking the ferry bright (although none of us felt particularly bright) and early on Saturday morning we arrived safely along with two other chamber groups on the Isle of Coll. We spent the day exploring the nearby area, meeting our lovely Tunnell colleagues and settling into our new home for the next 8 days.

We are already really enjoying ourselves and looking forward to some distraction free rehearsing and coaching over the next week. For repertoire we have brought some of our old favourites that we hope to bring some new energy to, some newer pieces that need some undivided attention, and we will also be testing out some of my new arrangements for the group.

Aside from rehearsals and concerts with the two ensembles here with us, our bucket list for the week includes swimming in one (or two) of Coll’s beautiful and isolated beaches, stargazing (although with the extra long days up here we might have to sacrifice a night of sleep), hopefully seeing some native species that can be found around the island, and of course a Nintendo Switch video game tournament using the four consoles the three groups have between them(!).

We will be regularly blogging during the week so watch this space for more updates! (And the eventual winner of the video game tournament – place your bets now…!)

 

When we realised it was too windy to play frisbee…