So much going on. Just spent a buzzy day looking at over a hundred scores with stimulating fellows and then bumped into the legendary artist Christian Marclay! Before Christmas, two disparate and unusual things happened: I reconvened with my band from 2005 – the talented Mira Calix and David Sheppard. We are Alexander’s Annexe and will be playing on BBC Radio 3’s Open Ear live broadcast a week on Saturday 13th January. Listen out! Then I also went on a magical and totally surreal trip to the Hungarian outback with the engineers (Jigsaw Structures) from my piano-reinventing team (currently funded by Innovate UK) to visit our team piano builder, David Klavins. We found a hive of activity in a factory, literally in the middle of nowhere; it was like a scandi-noir set. We saw three distinct pianos: one lightweight, one designer and one enormous one. This picture is Tim and Chris from Jigsaw talking to David Klavins (back to camera) by Klavins’ lightweight UC piano.
Designing a Future Piano
I am looking at how the piano, a historic and iconic instrument, can be made to fit more appropriately into our modern lives. It seeks to retain the...