Philip Spires commonplace book

I have kept a commonplace book for many years. It's a place where scraps of impressions are filed for future reflection. It's not a diary, it's just a mental scrapbook, concentrating on book reviews, concert reviews, visual arts and some occasional pieces on travel. It is also a place where I occasionally reflect on what I write. Details of my books can be found at http://www.philipspires.co.uk

Saturday, November 29, 2025

ADDA orchestra under Darrell Ang plays Brahms and Zhou Tian with Albert Gionovart as soloist

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Zhou Tian’s Concerto for Orchestra was written in 2016. It was commissioned and premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and their rec...
Friday, November 28, 2025

Gülsin Onay at the Denia International Piano Festival gives an exquisite performance

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  At 8pm on November 26, 2025 in the Centro Social in Denia, we heard Gülsin Onay play the piano. Programa  Johann Sebastian Bach - Part...
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Thursday, November 27, 2025

Milan Slijepcevic toca en el Festival Internacional de Piano de Denia - el programa por el concierto de 4 diciembre

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Saturday, November 22, 2025

Več Makropulos at the Royal Opera House in London, a triumph for Ausrine Stundyte and a convincing re-interpretation by Katie Mitchell

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Več Makropulos is really a play with musical accompaniment. One wonders whether the singers would think the same! It was also the debut in t...
Saturday, November 8, 2025

Denia International Piano Festival - programa 26 noviembre - Gülsin Onay

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Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Torino - Andrés Orozco Estrada conducts RAI Torino in Rossini, Mozart and Berlioz with Michael Barenboim as soloist

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There were some famous musical names associated with Orchestra Sinphonica della RAI, Torino in last night ’ s programme. Previous conductors...
Friday, October 31, 2025

Denia International Piano Festival - programa 6 noviembre - Congyu Wang

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philipspires
I was born in Wakefield and was brought up in Sharslton, a mining Village. I went to London University and then became a maths teacher, working initially as a volunteer teacher in Kenya. I spent sixteen years in London, in Balham and Islington. In 1992, I left Britain for Brunei and then Zayed University in Abu Dhabi. I currently live in La Nucia, near Benidorm in Spain. I am interested in the relationship between nature and nurture, birthright and experience. Themes of culture and identity and their relation to economic and social roles underpin my writing. What we are born into relates to what we become, but we are rarely in control. What others do, our interests and intellects and the way we choose to earn a living, all of these shape us into what we become. It may be that culture is the sum of all assumptions that others make on our behalf, whereas identity represents our reactions to them. I did a PhD on the effects of education in economic development in the Philippines. I was President of Alfas del Pi Music Society for twelve years.
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