Julius Drake invites people behind the scenes with his new ‘A Day in the Life’ blog in Pianist magazine.
‘A typical day for me? Today is one: a travel day. Tomorrow I have a concert in Bilbao with my friend, the superb German tenor, Christoph Prégardien. I will always travel to the concert the day before if I possibly can and today has been a horribly early start – my flight was at 6.40am and the alarm went off at 4! For some reason the direct flights from London to Bilbao are all unpleasantly early and the indirect ones take an age. When I arrive at the hotel, the first thing I will do is have a sleep. With any luck, because I have arrived so early, I’ll get an hour to go round Bilbao’s famous Guggenheim Museum. Then I will go to the concert hall and practice for a few hours before Christoph arrives for a rehearsal. We have already rehearsed for the recital a few weeks ago in London, so this will be a top-up. Hopefully all will be in order and then in the evening we’ll find one of the excellent restaurants Bilbao is famous for and have a delicious supper.’
Click here to read the full article in which he discusses his early years, the foundation of the Temple Song Series, and the hectic life on the road and at home of a professional classical musician.