Already half-way through the course...!

We can't believe that it's already been over half-way through our time at Coll! It's been intensive, inspiring and rewarding five days with lots of practice, rehearsals and coachings throughout the week.

The Cavendish have already blogged about this, but the FOOD... the food is just amazing! The incredible chefs at the An Cridhe are spoiling all of us with the most delicious home-made meals twice a day and every dinner, there is even dessert. My personal favourite has been the pear and almond tart with chocolate ganache... yum!

We have two coachings a day with our wonderful tutors which have all been so helpful and inspirational. They are constantly pushing us to go beyond what we can already do, both in our technical and ensemble skills - precise matching of bow strokes, articulation and sound, getting the balance between control and passion and to quote one of oue tutors Michael, 'achieving musical impact through the details not at the expense of them'. Even outside the lesson times, they continue to stimulate us through fascinating stories of their life and careers.

The first concert will be this evening with the Shostakovich Piano Trio No.2. This is a very new piece for us and we are still working hard this morning to do the final touches of preparation. It's a great work in which we can really let go of ourselves to explore the extremes of dynamic range and colour.

Meanwhile, we're still having some fun outside all the work hours, going for walks, playing table tennis and sight-reading Beethoven's Triple Concerto...! And yes- we're keeping up to date with the Euro and Wimbledon 2016!.

From the Louko Trio 08/07/16