Cello Exploits

At last I've been able to persuade the Kampala Music School to rent me a cello; I spotted a three quarter sized instrument in the cupboard at the end of June and it turns out no-one plays it since all the cello students are tall men and prefer to use the four more battered but full size instruments.  The only downside of having a cello is that now I have to schlep it to orchestra rehearsals - before I would just turn up and an instrument would be there for me to play.  It's fairly lightweight in its soft padded case, and has backpack straps, so I managed to keep both cello and myself dry under my umbrella in the rain on the way to orchestra on Monday.

I gave a short performance on July 4th at colleague Jeff's dinner party:

It's lovely to be able to practise in the evenings - I'm working through the Bach solo cello suites and Mieczyslaw Weinberg's 24 Preludes for solo cello.  I've been approached by some of the cellists at the music school to give them some lessons, since there are no other cello teachers available in town at the moment, so enjoyed giving my first ever lesson to Justus last week.  I'll be teaching on Thursday evenings at the school.

Best of all, having an instrument has opened up possibilities for chamber music - I spent a lovely Sunday afternoon playing cello duos with ACMP member Judith Ahrens on her Prakticello, and we'll be playing again next Sunday.