Newbury Spring Festival 2017: Leo Popplewell, Cellist, lunchtime recital at the Corn Exchange

Last year, I participated in a collaboration between the Newbury Spring Festival and the local Open Studios in which artists were invited to sketch at performances and rehearsals. The results of last year's collaboration (which involved six artists in total) are on display at the Newbury Corn Exchange until 24 May.

I really enjoyed the sketching, and I found working from those sketches to produce finished artworks a very satisfying process. So I was delighted when I discovered that I would be able to do it again this year. I was only able to fit one sketching date in my schedule, and that date was today's lunchtime recital - a performance by the young cellist Leo Popplewell.

There were, by coincidence, a lot of cellos last year. I have come to like cellos; they have beautiful curves and make a wonderful array of very lovely sounds. Young Mr. Poplewell certainly teases out a fabulous noise from his instrument. He was accompanied by Mikey Pandya on piano for the first part of the show (when they performed Sibelius - Malinconia Op.20 and Fauré - Sonata No.2 in G Op.117), but played alone on stage for the second part (Britten - Cello Suite No.1 Op.72).

Cartoon Capers with Beenham Wind Orchestra

Last night, I had the great pleaure of attending a concert of cartoon-related music, given by the Beenham Wind Orchestra in the church of St. Mary's in Thatcham. The orchestra were not expecting to be sketched, but seemed quite pleased with it nonetheless.

Palisander Recorders at the Newbury Spring Festival

Palisander are a recorder ensemble. They play all types and sizes of recorder, the range of which surprised me. This was an Open Studio / Newbury Spring Festival sketching opportunity, a performance at the Newbury Corn Exchange.

This is a selection from my sketches at the performance.

Moscow State Cellists

I was really excited to be asked, as an Open Studios Artist, to sit in on a number of Newbury Spring Festival events and draw them. My first event was this afternoon's rehearsal of the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra in the church of Saint Nicholas in the town. The music was incredible and the whole expeience was utterly fantastic.

The lead cellist made a special request of me (in excellent English) to draw the cello group. They stood patiently at the front of the stage... and I ran out of page. Fortunately, I had another one.

It's not the best drawing - I think I did not capture some members of the group very well at all - and it's a dreadful photograph and a bodged-up composite. but I did promise to post it, so here it is.

There were a few other drawings of the cellists, in action, that I think were more successful:

The lead cellist

The lead cellist lost in music

Another cellist lost in the music

I'm sure he knew I was drawing him

Concentration

Focus on the hands and instrument - and the cellist's face, not playing

At rest

All of these drawings were executed in fountain pens.