We Locrians are certainly getting to know the roads of Britain! After a most enjoyable Carols tour in December, covering much of Wales and the North of England, we are now in the warmer weather of spring back in the business of touring mostly with the Mozart and Vivaldi programmes. In addition, I have been working extensively with the latest young singing sensation, Katherine Jenkins, in concert halls up and down the country. The great exception to this has been the on-going performances of the musical drama about Elgar - "Stirring the Spirit". It has been a great luxury to be able to watch as David Graham's portrayal of the ailing composer increases in depth and subtlety with every performance. I have also been able to re-write some dialogue in the first half of the show, which adds more to the dramatic tension between Elgar and Carice. You may have seen David in the two-part BBC television documentary-dramas taking the leading part as Einstein. In the first programme, the old, dying man was to be found in a hospital room, in dialogue with his nurse. I wonder where the writer got that idea from?!!! The second programme was entirely devoted to the equation E=MC2 and was brilliantly directed. Just for one brief, fleeting moment I thought I could really comprehend the brilliance and consequences of this mathematical equasion. The role of Carice in the Elgar play has been taken over by Pippa Rathborne, as Serena Evans has been starring in a nation wide touring production of "Candida". Pippa has brought a new dimension to the female roles; following on from her lively presence with our company at the Edinburgh Festival, she continues to contribute with energy and humour to all our performances. At present, I am looking hard at the possibility of bringing the production to London in the Autumn. It's a very expensive proposition of course, but I would try to run the show on a couple of Sundays in the West End, just to see what reaction and reviews we can achieve. The new Nelson show gets its first outing at the Maddermarket Theatre in early April, and it has been interesting reading about the sea-faring hero, especially when I was in a force eight gale on the way to the Isle of Man! We are taking to the high seas for a cruise around the Baltic in July, with the Fred Olsen cruise liner, the "Black Watch". We have to present three 45 minute recitals in 12 days; it's such hard work being a classical musician! The cruise takes us to Oslow, Copenhagen, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Warnemunde, Holtenau, the Kiel Canal, Brunsbuttel, and then back to Dover. I am particularly looking forward to visiting St.Petersburg, with its awe-inspiring domes and rich traditions. It's so easy to become a complete sloth on board a cruise liner. Meals become the real focus of the day. After a large, cooked breakfast, then comes elevenses, a large lunch, afternoon tea, supper, and even a late evening "snack". I find the best way to cope is to go to the gym and sauna in the morning, swim in the pool, and take several brisk walks around the deck in the evening. Dressing up for meals and attending cocktail parties with the captain constitute a large part of one's time, so the concerts are a great relief, just to break the routine. In July, we will be performing period costume concerts and also a Last Night of the Proms programme In addition, I will be interviewed for a "Desert island Discs" presentation....all Locrian discs will be chosen, of course! On my first cruise around the Mediterranean, my e mail address was given to the Head of Entertainment in advance of sailing. I have chosen my own e mail address, which starts with "lord.pearson". Word spreads like wildfire on board a boat, and it was soon know to everybody that "Lord Pearson" was arriving, to play the cello. Despite my attempts to deny my status, passengers started to approach me to shake my hand, and when the boat's daily newspaper was printed and put under the cabin door, it announced the proud appearance of "Lord Pearson at all concerts". Subsequently, the service at our dinner table was remarkably fine, the top waiter giving me undivided attention. I only hope that this myth will continue to work its effect on the forthcoming Baltic cruise. I have just returned from a most exciting trip to the east coast of the USA, which I undertook in support of the Cumbrian charity of which I am "Musical Patron", The Sunbeams Music Trust. I played cello with Annie Mawson, the Celtic harpist, and we performed in many different venues, ranging from a Quaker retirement home to a hospital for children, to homes for those with special needs and even New York Cathedral. It was a most stimulating tour; I have been asked to play in the USA on many occasions before, but turned down offers as they usually involve crushingly hectic touring schedules, with frequent coach rides and flights. I am not a good flyer, after experiencing a terrible trip back from Japan a few years back, and I don't get on a long-haul flight unless I am really keen to go. This seemed like the right time to go the States, and for all the right reasons. It is impossible really to get to know the psyche of a country until you have travelled there, and my eyes and ears found a subtle difference between my preconceptions of American and what I found. We were most fortunate in that we experienced wonderful private hospitality, staying in a most civilised community in West Chester, near Philadelphia. Partly because I was born into a Quaker family in Ireland, the welcome I received was genuine, warm and welcoming. It many ways, it is interesting to observe that Americans from this part of that great continent have more of an "island" mentality than we do here. It is almost as if they have been cut off in time, whilst we are so much more aware of our physical and political place in the world outside. Philadelphia is, of course, at the heart of the history of the United States, and we had our picture taken standing by the Liberty Bell. The Souza march will never be the same! The principles that we hear so much talked about by American politicians - "Liberty", "Freedom", "Democracy", "Equality" - seem to take on a much greater importance when you are looking at the inside of the buildings where the great early pioneers (Washington, Franklin etc.) thrashed out their Constitution after getting the British off their backs. At least nobody appeared to blame us personally for the Anglo-American disputes of those times! Apart from visiting a submarine and climbing all over a nineteenth- century gun ship which are both moored in fast-flowing, ice-laden Delaware river, we were also thrilled to be invited to see the most impressive new Kimmel Centre for the performing arts in that city. The main auditorium is shaped like a cello, and there are limitless possibilities for changing the acoustic by swivelling enormous panels that change the sound of a symphony orchestra, all at the switch of a button. American orchestras enjoy huge private patronage, on quite another scale to this country, and one gets the impression that the musicians are looked after and respected much more than in Britain. A most moving workshop/ performance we gave was at the the A.I.DuPont Children's hospital. The Du Pont family made a vast fortune out of the manufacture of black gunpowder, but in more recent times have become one of the great pharmaceutical companies of USA. They have been philanthropic enough to plough some of their profits into establishing a world-famous hospital for children. Despite many of the sick children being in isolation, we met up with Amber, with Rhetts Syndrome, holding her head up, unclenching her hands with a lovely smile as she reached out and strummed Annie's harp; 17 year old Maggie, who has lived in the duPont Hospital all her life, finding the courage to join in the singing, despite having huge depression; Angela and Dominique, two Ocool¹ teenagers who stayed for the whole session, probably because they knew I had recorded with Madonna! We went on to Ronald MacDonald house, nearby, and saw where up to a hundred complete families are housed whilst one of their number is being treated an an out-patient at the hospital. The facilities were very impressive and our contribution, though fleeting, appeared to have been much appreciated. So we took ourselves off to New York in a large van, approaching Manhatten from Statten Island. As we emerged from the Lincoln tunnel, the very first thing we witnessed was the site of the Twin Towers. We were silenced by the enormity of the scale of the devastation, and also by memories of the terrible violence of that terrorist act. We went straight on to St. John the Divine Cathedral, where we were able to play a wonderfully still concert, to put our souls in order. What an extraordinary place New York is! There is so little room between the massive skyscrapers that it is almost impossible to get any views, and the nature of the grid-system means that it is easy to navigate, if not quite so romantic in its impression as say, Rome or Paris. We went to the top of the Empire State Building, and stood in the icy blast and looked down at the crazy man-made mayhem sweeping away in every direction. Impressive, exciting, yes, but I would rather look at the view from Croagh Patrick mountain over Westport Bay in the West of Ireland, any day! Apart from the Chrysler Building, and Central Station, too many of the huge buildings are simply functional and have no beauty. Though fighting budgets, modern architects appear to have left the concepts of proportion and beauty abandoned. Do I start to sound too much like Prince Charles?! However, one architect whom I have a huge respect for is Frank Lloyd Wright, and it was a joy to take a visit to the brilliant Guggenheim Museum. Its corkscrew staircase and external design caused huge controversy when it was first erected; who would have thought that there would be demonstrations against this wonderful building, which is now one of the major tourist attractions, nestling on the side of Central Park. To my taste, the greatest exhibit in the gallery is a wonderful Van Gogh. The artist's strong character leaps out of every brush stroke, and the oil colours seem to get get stronger the further you walk away from the painting....worth the trip to the USA alone. Travelling to the fantastic Broadway production of "The Producers" in a stretch limo, had to be a highlight of what was a most stimulating and memorable excursion. Perhaps the Locrians will get to tour there one day; let's hope so. In conclusion, its been busy few months, exhausting at times, but the Locrian shows continue to sustain us all in good humour, good company and rewarding music-making.