Gaffer tape pics – No.12

Are we stringing this out too much?! There are just two left after this one.
Today’s pic is of Annette Isserlis, viola

Vespers tour: the final leg

Following Wednesday’s little trip to Salisbury International Arts Festival for the final Vespers performance, we thought we’d write a last “10 things learnt on the Vespers tour” to complete the set!

1. Vespers in Salisbury, following Beethoven 6 at The Night Shift in London = from one end of the musical scale to the other!
2. (Also = very tired…)
3. Salisbury Cathedral was a beautiful setting for the liturgical performance
4. Involvement of Clergy, incense and candles gave a very different and special feel to the rest of the tour.
5. Cathedral has windows. Help!!! Practicing in the afternoon meant lighting would be different in the evening!
6. The shops close in Salisbury at 5.30pm, and restaurants don’t start serving food till 6pm.
7. Ceri has conveniently the same sized feet as Liz Kenny, and conveniently had a spare pair of black shoes in her bag (Sorry Liz, no excuses to buy another pair of shoes!).
8. Large, very appreciative audience – standing ovations possible in the UK!
9. No time for ice-cream, so cannot compare to Holland and Berlin.
10. Last train back to London is 22.27  Just about made it due to there being no Interval (not the reason for not having an interval by the way)

Ceri Jones and Megan Russell, Projects Director and Projects Manager

Gaffer tape pics – No.11

Today’s is of Susan Sheppard, cello

Gaffer tape pics – No.10

Today we feature Matthew Truscott, violin and Tom Dunn, viola.

The Night Shift ‘hangover’

As I write this I’m not really what I’m going to say or where this entry is going. This is a result, I think, of my Night Shift ‘hangover’. This is a curious effect as it feels much like a proper hangover, but without the causes of a normal one. Last night was late, but not that late, I drank a little but not too much. No, I think the Night Shift hangover is the result of an evening that is slightly stressful, uncertain, mixed in with a little drink and a late night, followed by an interrupted sleep full of various Night Shift related dreams.

Anyway. Last night’s event all seemed to go very well. To be honest we were a little worried that a return to our regular style of event and venue might have seemed a little anti-climactic after the Roundhouse Night Shift, but I don’t think we had need to worry. I realised that as I sat down that one of the great things about the Queen Elizabeth Hall is its intimacy, which is a great bonus. Plus we had a special guest in the audience – Goldie, it was great to see him there, I hope he comes back for more!

As ever there were a few things that weren’t quite right, that we can improve on, but that’s the case with every concert, so hopefully they get better each time! Feedback so far has been good, with some nice tweets, but more is always welcomed, positive or negative (the same goes for all our concerts, we really DO like hearing from the audience!).

If you were there you will have heard that we are hoping to announce a summer event, details will be available in all the usual places. It’s likely to be at a new venue – which got me wondering – are there any venues where you’d love to see The Night Shift take place?

I shall stop rambling now. Far more interesting gaffer tape pic to follow…

William Norris, Marketing Director

Gaffer tape pics – No.9

The office team here at OAE towers are all about to head off to Southbank Centre shortly for tonight’s concerts, but there’s just time to post another pic – this time of Jonathan Manson, cello. If you’re coming to our concerts tonight you should be able to pick up a copy of the brochure there, but if not we’ll be posting an online version very soon.

Youth to shine on Night Shift

Here’s yesterday’s Evening Standard’s coverage of Eduardo Portal making his debut at The Night Shift on Tuesday.

Gaffer tape pics – No.8

Today we have Lisa Beznosiuk, flute

The Night Shift: now on Soundcloud

We’ve just set up a Soundcloud page for The Night Shift which will now be an easy one-stop-shop for all Night Shift podcasts and audio. We’ll be creating a similar profile for general OAE audio and podcasts shortly. You’ll find the latest podcast embedded below, which is now much easier to share, download and comment on.

Gaffer tape pics – No.7

Today we present Chi-chi Nwanoku, Double Bass