...After FAI i headed down to Boston (which was still freezing!) to have some lessons with of my favourite lessons - Mike Block (cello) and Anthony Coleman (improvisation/composition). This period of my trip, as I now know, was way way way too short. But the small time I spent with Mike and Anthony was immensely rewarding. It's a great feeling to be ready to go and work on technical and creative things which have become hurdles with such incredible and inspiring musicians and teachers...Looking forward to the next chapter.

And finally...NYC

Well - NYC is always great. I had hoped to spend more time there and up-state but alas I had to cut my trip short. I did, however, have time to catch up with my New York Klezmer family, schvitz (yiddish for sweat) my arse off and eat pickles and borsht in the Brooklyn Russian Banya and catch John Zorn play at Happy Lucky no.1 space in Brookyln for the inaugural weekend of the new weekly residency series- some incrizbdle artists playing over the coming year. Go check it out! I'll be spending a longer period of time in NYC and nearby later on in the year! Until then, lots of other exciting things in the mix.

More soon
Francesca x

...after finally taking myself on a little solo residency style retreat to the heart of Lisbon, i can happily say it was one of the decisions i've ever made. It's beautiful - from the building, to the pavements, to the food, to the warm windy weather and let's talk about THE FOOD for a second. TBH i didn't have time to physically eat everything on my list, i might have exploded, but i tried my best. So in between trying to process the last few weeks of crazy travelling, lessons, rehearsals, conferences and freezing East Coast climates and nibbling my way round the city, I walked it all off exploring the cute streets and even making it out to the secret beaches and cliffs of Capo Da Roca and the Sintra magic mountain. Still with the sweetest smell of Spring flowers. Obviously Portugal/Lisbon is no secret and has been a must-go-to destination for many a year so perhaps i'm a little late in the game in getting my arse over there. But it will definitely be just one of many trips to come to this beautiful city and it's surroundings. Here's some little anecdotal memories from my short but sweet trip!