I’ve had a good few weeks off Bach, mostly because I was in at New Music on the Point - an incredible journey to the middle of nowhere in Vermont where people like Roomful of Teeth and JACK Quartet came to mentor composers and performers.

I was there with my wonderful duo partner as a vn/pf combination and two weeks of music-making among some very generous souls and enthusiastic people helped us both get over some of our initial nervousness at travelling that far to meet people we didn’t know. I was original worried that such a new music thing meant that the people were going to be severe, strict Darmstadt School types, but that proved quickly not to be the case, and we were warmly welcomed as visitors from across the pond.

So: two weeks in Vermont, playing concerts of new music (which I love), and working in an environment where composers outnumbered performer-types (for once!) was absolutely incredible. It definitely saved me from my jadedness at dealing with yet another school year and yet another exam glut, and the sheer amount of sun and greenery and fresh air helped a lot too - even for such a city slicker as I am.

View from my cabin

I also got to spend three days in New York meeting friends, both from my time at university and from Facebook music groups - more friends! - and bookshop hopping. I walked for hours every day, ended up playing foosball in a pub at 1.30am once, and experienced the frustrations of the metro more than once.

So yes, I feel very refreshed, and like a completely different person, which was not what I thought I’d feel as I was packing for the trip at the very beginning of June. Back to Bach - D sharp minor awaits!