One of the most enjoyable things that I have found about running my own ensemble is the exploration of possible repertoire for future concerts. It is like chasing a rabbit warren of composers and different ensemble settings... you start off with one little thing, and then that leads to another unexpected thing... and then another...

... and in this initial exploration phase, I can lose myself for several hours, just listening and finding music that is interesting to programme in some concert in the future.

And then sometimes that is followed by a detective hunt of libraries and archives to hunt down that elusive single manuscript in the world or an equally elusive copyist or modern reprint.

Some of the time, if I'm lucky, it will have been digitised and uploaded to IMSLP or RISM.... but if I'm unlucky, it is going to require quite a good deal of sleuthing around, and then a direct request (that may or may not cost money) to the archive that holds the manuscript to see if they can make digital scans of the music.

And often they will be in old rarely used clefs or scripts, and that might need a bit of modernising for other players that might not be quite so comfortable with old music notations.

And after all of that, I tend to end up with enough programming for about 5 years worth of concerts instead of the scheduled 4 chamber concerts and 1 orchestral sized concert that we field in the year. And not all of it fits the ensemble forces that we have for the coming year!

Ah well, from all of these many interesting little bits and pieces, we should be able to piece together the main skeleton points for constructing a engaging concerts... and everything that I haven't been able to fit into next years programming, I can hoard them and hope no other group will programme them in the near future!

It is sort of quite funny, that we hunt down these rare gems... and then hope that no-one else will stumble upon them before we perform them. Sometimes, I'm even loath to share and check with the guest artist... just in case they pinch it for something else before they appear with us!

But still, I really enjoy this part of things... it brings me lots of joy to discover things, and to find performances and works that move me... and hopefully, to bring those back to life for our audience!

Handy Crypto Tools

Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Coinbase Wallet: Multi chain wallet with lots of opportunities to Learn and Earn!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
WooX: The centralised version of WooFi. Stake WOO for fee-free trades and free withdrawals! This link also gives you back 25% of the commission.
GMX.io: Decentralised perpetual futures trading on Arbitrum!
Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers!
Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful!
CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects.
Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.
KuCoin: I still use this exchange to take part in the Spotlight and Burning Drop launches.
MEXC: Accepts HIVE, and trades in most poopcoins! Join the casino!
ByBit: Leverage and spot trading, next Binance?
OkX: Again, another Binance contender?