Category: Awards Scheme Concerts 2024/25

Stroud-Zhang Duo Concert in Skye

Concert day in Skye:

What an amazing day and concert we had in Skye. We were staying in Uig, with the most amazing views and scenery around us. Our brilliant host, Angus, took us on a very adventurous tour around the whole of the Isle of Skye, before the concert.

The weather was constantly ever-changing. One minute it was sunny, the next there were huge black clouds and torrential rain. We went looking for caves, and got stuck in a hailstone storm… we were very wet and cold! We were just in awe of the beauty of Skye. We have attached some pictures we took from our tour of the island. We came across the area in which dinosaur foot prints were found, which was super cool!

After our action-packed tour of the island, we made our way to the venue in Portree to rehearse before the concert at 19:30. Portree is a stunning little town with very cute coloured houses.

The concert went really well, and the audience were extremely kind and receptive. We played a little encore at the end called “Bha là eile ann”, which went down a treat!
Thank you to everyone who came out to watch us!

We then had an early start the morning after, where we caught the 9am bus from Skye to Inverness, for our concert in Nairn!


 

 

Scholfield-Clarke Duo – Helensburgh Music Society, 11th February 2024

The final day of our the Tunnell Trust tour started out in Ayrshire, with a leisurely drive back to Glasgow for a few hours rest in the afternoon before heading to our last venue in Helensburgh. After such positive experiences at Inverurie Music and Ayr Music Club, we were excited to give the final rendition of our ‘Red, White and Blue’ programme for Helensburgh Music Society!

Our final venue was Helensburgh United Reformed Church, a beautiful space with truly excellent acoustics – and a very pleasant sounding Yamaha grand piano. The space was tied together by the grand facade of the organ behind us – sadly no longer in use, but giving quite the backdrop to the performance.

Iain got acquainted with the instrument quickly, and we put the finishing touches on some of our repertoire before taking a break before the concert. We were provided with some excellent sandwiches and cake to keep us going, which didn’t last long enough to get a picture! We’re grateful to Alan, a member of the society’s committee, for taking some snaps of us as we rehearsed in this space – here we were working on the brand new work in our programme, written specially to be premiered on this tour by composer John De Simone – ‘Another Life’.

  

We had a smashing time with this final performance, going out on a high after a very successful tour! We’re very thankful to Tunnell Trust for their support in organising the three concerts we’ve given this weekend, giving us a wonderful opportunity to reach new audiences with our music, and introduce them to the exciting repertoire of the saxophone. Thanks to all of our hosts and the teams behind each music club for their work in putting on these events, and for looking after us so well with their generous hospitality, it has been an absolute pleasure!

After a combined total of six performances in Arran, Glasgow, Auchterarder, Inverurie, Ayr and Helensburgh, we are definitely ready for a bit of a breather! However, we’re looking forward to future projects, and delighted to have been given this boost by the Tunnell Trust. It’s goodbye from us for now, but wee hope to see you at one of our concerts soon!