Man, 2020 was weird.

It's not that there's are no women composers, Tommy, it's that people like you did their very best to ignore them and erase their legacy.

Not even 8am and I have already seen a post saying that trade unions shouldn’t be doing anything on the climate crisis because that is not a worker issue - as though workers do not also breathe toxic air, suffer in excessive heat, or watch their wages vanish in a puff of smoke when food prices rise

In a climate crisis it beggars belief that the government and WECA Mayor aren’t doing more to cap bus fares. £5.20 return in Bristol is prohibitively expensive for so many people. www.bristol247.com/news-and-fea...

EHRC's hypothetical trans man is not allowed on either the men's or the women's wards. There is one private side room. Who gets the room? - A patient with compromised immune system who needs it? - A dying patient who needs it? - An infectious patient who needs it? - The trans man who doesn't?

Job opportunity: The University of Bristol seeks to appoint a highly-qualified UK-based professional conductor for the University Symphony Orchestra for 2026-27 (deadline of 15 June) www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...

What do you do if you get rejected for a scheme, but you know that the organisation never listened to the work samples you sent (that they ask for as part of the application)? Feeling rather frustrated.

The current climate is the most stable we will ever experience in our lifetimes. I find that a very, very sobering thought.

Such sad news. Blaize played for my opera highlights performance a couple of years ago and he was such a lovely person. Gone far too soon.

Join me with Making Music for a discussion about inclusion and menopausal singers - free to attend on Friday 29th May, online via Zoom. www.makingmusic.org.uk/sspx/convers... #menopause #singing #choir #voice #inclusion @makingmusicuk.bsky.social

If you're a mother and you work in any area of the music industry, do join us in Bristol this Friday @ @bristolbeacon.bsky.social for a very relaxed sharing/networking/meetup! Please share 🙏

Just a little PSA- Neil Gaiman has reactivated his Bluesky account. Because he deactivated before a lot of people could unfollow him, and/or because Bluesky doesn’t remove you from a person’s followers when you block them, a LOT of you are still publicly listed as following him. You should check.

Enjoying playing spot the Bristol location watching Young Sherlock.

I was deeply immersed in classical music as a child - hours of lessons, practice, chamber music and choir each week - and I can tell you that my favourite General Midi sound by far was helicopter.

You can see from the numbers the Michael Jackson biopic is doing that fans will overlook a LOT if they love the material enough (see also JKR & Johnny Depp). It would be nice if the same couldn't be said for Gaiman.

So if you want to hear more unfamiliar-but-great music out there, either do some of the unsexy work yourself (photograph/scan, edit, upload), or support those who do. You can donate to @henselpushers.bsky.social’s efforts here henselpushers.org/donate

Many Labour MPs, maybe even the PM, will tell us today that the far right rally doesn’t represent the British people. Meanwhile, the policies they support help normalise, at times deliver directly, what the far right want. This is not how we are better; it is not how opposing the far right works.

Historic England is looking for people who know and care about heritage as part of a recruitment of 7 new Commissioners to the Board. 12 days per annum. £4,133. Apply by 4th June apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/9320

It's sort of breathtaking how quickly the BBC agenda for 'both sides-ing' political issues has taken root in an effort to normalise fascism, that we can have a racist far right rally be spoken of in the same terms as a protest against genocide. Staggering abdication of ethical and moral standards.

You know you've been rejected when the email starts 'Dear Applicant' 🫠

Seeing all the Cannes coverage and kind of wishing I was there again. I wrote this about my first visit back in 2019, which I think sums it all up pretty well...

🎉 It’s happening! Direct Oxford–Bristol trains start on Monday, running every two hours from Monday to Saturday. Weekday Oxford departures are at 0700, 0903, 1103, 1303, 1504, 1904 and 2103: the journey takes ~1hr10.

The feature on R4's Today this morning about a guy with Parkinson's who's 'using AI' to realise his songs was ridiculously soft ball. I have massive sympathy for people dealing with that awful disease, but this interview really riled me.

1001 fun ways to poison yourself and your neighbours with wood burning stoves!

I think about this ALL THE TIME. I happened to meet Baroness Finlay when they were debating the AI bill in the Lords, and said this very thing to her.

I'm not a Starmer fan, but I admit I will feel a significant amount of amusement if Starmer now somehow survives all this, and Wes is left on the back benches.

Yesterday Kier Starmer announced Labour will nationalise British Steel, and save 2700 jobs. Today, the Uni of Nottingham put 2700 staff at risk of redundancy. This is just one university. Across the UK 15,000 higher education jobs need saving. Where is the rescue package for our universities?

Insane dystopian shit here, totally unacceptable. I expect politicians and commentators to be outraged by it, regardless of their opinion of the crimes these people were convicted of.

We as musicians/composers particularly should stand in solidarity with artists and refuse to use genAI art, just like we want others to refuse to use AI music.

Our next general funding application window opens in a month, on June 15, 2026. Details via our website 💻

This explains my almost 80yo mother in law, who spends most of her time volunteering at art galleries, organising architectural tours, playing chamber music and going to the theatre 😁

I LOVED the Sound of Music, the Wizard of Oz, Olivier’s Henry V, Robin Hood, etc etc, and I’m certainly not alone. What an odd take.

My 6yo and I like to watch factory videos on YouTube (things like 'how marbles/crayons/pencils etc are made). In the last couple of weeks I've noticed the genre has been infected by AI slop videos. So depressing.

Love it when I'm trying to compose and there are two drills outside sounding in slightly off thirds.

If you want to understand my dad, know that he just emailed me and my sisters a link to this video with the words: 'In these gloomy times you might to enjoy Peter Schickele playing PDQ Bach's Piano Concerto.' 😁

Me, a fantasy novelist drawing on historical sources for world-building, making sure the narrative's central characters have distinct and different names. Actual historical sources for names: everyone's called Michael.

Anyone living in an area where Reform gained a council seat - we need you to become a menace. Bins not collected on time? Write to your councillor. Graffiti on a bus stop? Cancelled buses? Pot holes? Write to your councillor. Bury them in work they applied for and make them wish they never ran.

We now have over 850 screenings of the People's Emergency Briefing on the map. Can you help us get to 1,000? Here's how to host a screening in your community or workplace. www.nebriefing.org/host-the-film #NationalEmergencyBriefing #PEBuk #TimeToStepUp

Energy transition expert Tessa Khan on why dependence on a cartel of fossil fuel companies and petro-state dictators is making us poorer - and why electrifying everything is so much better. #NationalEmergencyBriefing #TimeToStepUp

Managed to submit an application 30 mins before the deadline - go me! Now I'm going to have a cup of tea.

Anyone who used computers before 1992, what's a video game you still think about all the time?

If you're in Bristol this Sunday, do pop along to this free panel discussion I'm chairing at @stgeorgesbris.bsky.social as part of the Bristol Folk Festival, with the incredible Rioghnach Connolly and others. It's going to be great 😍

Any time I mention a person my 6yo doesn't know personally, be they old friend, celebrity, relative or colleague, his first question invariably is "and are they dead now?" 😐

Can we have a new rule where any politician accusing another of 'playing politics/political games/ political football' has to dress up as a black pot.

Huge congrats to RTS West winner @stevenpricemusic.bsky.social for his stunning score to Ocean 😍 Joseph Fiennes presented the award, and as one of the judges for that category, teenage me is pretty pumped by that 😁

This is almost impressive how far they've reached to link a woman to a man (usually it's just 'wife of x').

Don't use Substack, peeps. It's unethical in a multitude of ways, and look what happens when an author tries to leave it...

I knew this would happen.

I'm a freelancer so I'm not very good at having hobbies, but this was very fun, and I can see a future where all my friends are constantly forced to accept découpaged shells.