I must admit I’m a fan of deadlines. They seem to push me beyond the expectations I have for myself. I love the reminder that, even as I approach 50, I’m still capable of learning quite a lot of new things and retaining a significant amount of information, some of it useful and some less so. At times, I think my memory is like a sieve (a couple of weeks ago, I locked myself out of my own house - in fairness, I was preoccupied with what seemed like 50,000 thoughts going on at once and I was very tired), but when I consider how much knowledge my brain has to retain, I think I’m doing alright. Soon, I might make a list of things I’ve learnt so far this year. I think I’d surprise myself.

I’ve had my orchestral harpist head on since Wednesday evening and I’m really enjoying being immersed in that world once again. I’ve got a rehearsal and concert at beautiful Wakefield Cathedral tomorrow. I’m playing as part of the Amici Ensemble accompanying the Yorkshire Philharmonic Choir directed by charismatic Andrew Padmore in two works by John Rutter, neither of which I’ve played before. I haven’t had the music for long and after an initial read through of notes and symbols that seemed to be written in a foreign language, I persevered, working as much and as often as time permitted.

To my relief, it finally started making sense last night. I started to breathe as I was able to bring longer passages together to form coherent intelligible lines and phrases. It’ll still be to the wire as there’s a lot of everyday busyness to be dealt with. The devil is in the detail and I’ve reached one of my favourite stages during which the music gets its technicolour finishing coat. The music sounds so very different by this stage with much more refinement. I kick myself gently yet firmly at something that proved so challenging that now seems a whole lot simpler once I’ve identified the cause of the difficulty. I’m almost enjoying the adrenaline that comes with my slightly augmented stress levels. In moderation, it’s a useful natural substance.

It’s been rather a musical week all in all and I really love how the focus has shifted to my passion, one of my main “raisons d’être”. Music. I attended a really inspiring concert at the stunning Victoria Baths in Manchester last Friday. It was given by the Juniper Project, a duo created by harpist colleague and friend, Eira Lynn Jones and her flautist partner, Anna Rosa Mari. Sitting in the waterless pool, we were quite literally immersed in music. It’s one of three pools in this spectacular building. It’s under renovation and thank goodness for that. I love the juxtaposition of old and new buildings but it’s all too easy to resort to demolition rather than reviving our architectural treasures.

These two accomplished musicians regaled us with their stunningly simple musically sensitive interpretations of varied repertoire with an aquatic theme flowing throughout. There really was something for everyone, including a little bit of Rutter, funnily enough. His works certainly are popular and he always writes satisfyingly substantial harp parts.

Talking of deadlines, I’ve got 10 good minutes left before I fall into a sleepy stupor. I’ve got another deadline for Sunday evening, but more about that in another blog post.

Have a super smashing weekend with some wonderful music. I know I will, because, let’s face it - I love being in harpist mode!