The first day of the Florida P&D Academy is over and has gone well. We have a lower intake than previously but this is to be expected given the change from south of the state to north east. A lot less traffic and a lot cooler up here than in the Boca Raton, though it was 81ºF just before we arrived. Travelling in North America via the northern states in winter…

By Robert Wallace The refurbishment of the RSPBA’s headquarters in Glasgow is well underway as the picture above shows. I understand that Association staff expect to be able to move back in from their temporary offices across the road in Washington Street before the end of the year, possibly as early as September. The building has been stripped back to bare stonework in readiness for a completely new custom designed interior….

I read at the weekend that Scottish local authorities can only raise around 12% of their own inciome from local taxes (down from 20% some years ago).As such I am not sure we should be too critical of them when we consider the worrying situation of music teaching in our schools. These councils have their hands tied. Direct much of your ire to the Scottish ‘government’ at Holyrood. In the…

The Principal of the Northern Winter School, Ronnie Bromhead, ex-Scots Guards, tells me that registrations for this year’s school will open in the first week of March. Venue is as before at Lohheide in Lower Saxony and an excellent facility I might add. Ronnie has pledged to keep prices as affordable as possible but there will be no reduction in the quality of the world-class teaching on offer. Check the…