... so please do not take it amiss that here I mention just one. Tempting though it might be to express here some very strongly held views about the causes of the London riots, this is not the place for me to do so. I should simply like to draw to your attention the plight of Carla Rees, professional flautist, instrumental teacher at my academic institution, Royal Holloway, University of London, and founder of Rarescale, an ensemble for flute-based new music. The building in which Carla lived was gutted during the Croydon riots. She managed to escape to a hotel for the night, but lost everything: her instruments, music, even her two cats; she is now homeless and struggling to begin to rebuild her professional life. The company Just Flutes & Jonathan Mayall Music has set up a fund to help, details of which may be found by clicking here.
(I genuinely detest having to say this, but please do not add any overtly 'political' comments on this, lest they be deleted. I am the last person to deny the oneness of art and politics, and have been engaging animatedly and even with anger elsewhere on such matters. However, this posting is simply concerned with an individual's plight, though perhaps it might exemplify a more general plight. Other, crucially important discussions may and most certainly should be held elsewhere, but not here please.)
Here is a recording of Carla Rees playing David Bennett Thomas's Steeples in my Soul, for alto flute:
