daniel smith

Every midnight, without fail, the Palio parade commences. This includes very loud drumming, very loud singing and of course home-made fireworks :P It seems as if every drummer tries to outplay the next. I guess this is payback for all those times I was on the other end of the drumstick ;) But at midnight?! [...]

Today was the toughest and most draining time I have spent with orchestra. The orchestra that I have the privilege to work with is simply incredible – what amazing musicians. Today, together with the orchestra, I rehearsed Beethoven’s Symphony No.2 and it was the most demanding (mentally and physically) rehearsal I have been through to [...]

Jetlag is getting a little the better of me. This, together with it being 38 degrees at midnight last night means I am getting quite a lot of sleep, about 4 to 6 hours. However, this is not important to an orchestra! Day one yesterday and no rest for the wicked (and perhaps crazy? :P). [...]

Here I am, once again in one of my favourite places in the world, Siena, Tuscany. It brings back so many memories as I walk through the tiny cobbled streets with my gelato, hearing music pour forth from every corner as both classical and jazz musicians from all around the globe, invade this tiny city [...]