The Tunnell Trust chamber music course is held at Strathgarry House, situated near Pitlochry in the very centre of Scotland, and surrounded by small mountains. This location provided a much welcomed break from London for all of us. As we arrived, we were greeted by the friendly faces of Sebastian and Henrietta Thewes who host the course in their house and concert hall. Henrietta also cooked fantastic meals for us all week.
The whole atmosphere was very relaxed, which enabled us to gain the most from the course. There was no distinction made between professors and students, which meant we also learnt a lot about the profession and heard many entertaining stories as we chatted at break and meal times.
The professors stayed with Sebastian and Henrietta at Strathgarry House, while the students stayed across the valley at Lude House and Lude Steading (Steading = Farm Buildings) by the kindness of Helen Gordon and Andrew and Lavinia Gordon. We were so lucky to be able to stay in these beautiful old houses as “guests of the Laird”. We were made to feel completely at home and treated as old friends of the family. The logistics of getting between these two places and the organisation of the concerts was managed by Jonathan Tunnell and David Todd who made the whole course run smoothly.
During the week, Trio Ébano led two workshops in local schools. This was a great experience for us and a brilliant way to introduce our instruments to the children. We played Malcolm Arnold’s Divertimento for them; they enjoyed it because it is a very lively piece. It also has solo movements for each voice so they could listen out for each instrument separately. We also told them a little about the instruments and then played bits of solo repertoire so they could hear the sort of things the instruments can do. They particularly enjoyed the part where we stood in a circle and played clapping and name games with them.
There was free time during the week to explore the surrounding countryside. The picture below shows a group of us with Jonathan Tunnell (on the right) at Bruar Falls. Some of the students dived into the pool from the top of the rocks - but not us!
