Julia Sherriff

I am an amateur musician. I have no formal musical training beyond what I learned at school, where I was lucky to have some wonderful teachers and studied the violin and piano to Grade 8, along with A-level music.

I have played and sung in numerous orchestras, choirs and other ensembles over the years, but for many years (almost a period of a decade) I played very little at all: as I think many people find, other aspects of life simply got in the way. Which is not to say that music disappeared for me, but the violin and piano practice certainly became less frequent!

A few years ago I decided to change that. I made the only new year’s resolution that I have ever kept! I would do something musical every day, whether it was reading about music, actively listening to it, or playing. I stuck to it, and eventually worked up the courage to join a local amateur orchestra, and slowly but surely I became a musician again.

Then COVID-19 came along and we were all confined to our own homes. Amateur music-making stopped, to all intents and purposes (although with the help of technology some things did continue). In an effort to keep playing, and to keep in contact with friends, family and above all those I missed playing with, I started recording myself using my phone and exploring ways to combine those recordings both with my own and with those provided by other people. For a long time it was the closest we could get to ensemble playing.

As the lockdown progressed, audio recordings became videos, and I began to explore the idea of playing a full set of orchestral parts on either the violin or viola and combining them, and then eventually writing my own. I have learned a lot along the way, and not all of the results bear listening to! But I hope some of them do… Enjoy!