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…!)