Third festival and rising

It gives me great pleasure to launch a third successive chamber music festival next year which is now confirmed for 15th to 27th August 2011 ('Paths to Russia') - I along with violinist Jack Liebeck and pianist Daniel Grimwood are to give two piano trio recitals on November 19th and 20th to launch it and as tickets for the 'Vienna to France' festival evaporated fast we're expecting good sales ten months ahead of schedule. All the musicians involved in the terrifically successful 2010 festival have booked themselves back in for next year so we have such an exciting formula set up and the ever expanding audiences are as seemingly passionate as we are. I hear rumours of dwindling audiences in the industry and a lacklustre attitude to classical music pointing towards a dim future but I see no evidence of it in North Yorkshire - in fact quite the opposite. Indeed I found that recent performances at London's Wigmore Hall and Kings Place were full houses - even Simon and Yasmin le Bon attended both, breaking down all elitist barriers between music industries!

On this subject, I have recorded with Simon le Bon and Mark Ronson for the new Duran Duran album released early 2011 and recently performed with Simon at Hampton Court for the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation - read the following link for the interview:

http://www.duranasty.com/exclusive_reports/exclsuive_inteview_jamie_walton_duran_duran%27s_13th_cello_player/Salvo_interviews_Jamie_Walton.htm

Having just performed the Bach solo suites at Tracey Emin's house it's been quite a surreal year!