Xander Parish, the Russian ballet star from Hull

I've been talking to a clutch (so to speak) of particularly fabulous interviewees of late and here is the first of them: Xander Parish, the only British dancer ever to have joined the great Mariinsky Ballet of St Petersburg. In today's Independent he tells me how it all happened. It's probably not so long since I'd have spotted him and his mates in our local Waitrose, which is populated on Saturdays by the White Lodge kids hunting out some well-deserved treats. Just look at him now.

Xander dances Romeo, Prince Siegfried and Apollo with the Mariinsky at Covent Garden in a few weeks' time. Dates are at the end of the Indy piece.

Buxton Festival TOMORROW

Viv and I are giving the first performance of our new coffee-concert version of the ALICIA'S GIFT show at the Buxton Festival, Pavilion Arts Centre, tomorrow at 12 noon. The story is set in Buxton, so effectively we are taking it him! Do join us if you're in the area! Repertoire includes Chopin, Debussy, Granados, Ravel and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, which is Viv's party piece and quite an experience in his wonderful hands. And...the sun is shining! http://www.buxtonfestival.co.uk/music-series/alicias-gift-concert/

Meanwhile I am very much looking forward to hearing Dvorak's The Jacobin at the Buxton Opera House tonight, conducted by festival director Stephen Barlow. Off to Euston shortly...

Summer reading: a list for music-lovers

I'm in the middle of a major summer runaround at present - and the single most important thing to take along when you are dealing with planes, trains and so forth is a good book, whether paper or electronic. Here are a few suggestions for what to pop on your iPad if you fancy a good read that involves musicians and other artistic animals...

ASTONISH ME
By Maggie Shipstead (Harper Collins)
A ballet novel to cherish, this delicious multi-generation story features writing that flies. Shipstead's style can make your heart sing; and even if you are not into dance, you could still love the book for its metaphorical powers and its liveliness of atmosphere. One might think that there are too many clichés and coincidences - the Russian defector, the tangled web of relationships, the twist that you can probably see coming from the beginning - but Maggie Shipstead's touch is so light, her command of detail so vivid and realistic, and the way she adds layer after layer to our understanding of the characters so convincing and compassionate that her writing quashes every doubt. Weeks after reading it, I could still imagine any of the characters wandering into the room and speaking to me.


STRINGS ATTACHED: ONE TOUCH TEACHER AND THE ART OF PERFECTION
By Joanne Lipman and Melanie Kupchynsky (Simon & Schuster)
I've reviewed this at more length for Sinfini.com, but suffice it to say that anyone who has ever wondered about the value of "tough love" teaching needs to read this book, and fast. Written jointly by the daughter and ex-pupil of "Mr K", a supposedly terrifying Ukrainian cello teacher in the US, it's a heartrending memoir in which the vital nature of self-discipline as a tool for life is to the fore. Learning music here means learning rigour, high standards, self-criticism, determination and resilience; and while music brings life skills, life brings a need for music as sustenance in times of desperation and, indeed, tragedy. These are points of which we all require reminding as a matter of urgency. It's hard to imagine that cause being better served.


ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE
By Clemency Burton-Hill (Headline Review)
Our favourite Radio 3 presenter turns her skills to her second novel, which is not musical per se but does, deliciously, feature someone named Wagner sacking someone named Bernstein in Chapter 2. It's a strong and sensitive slalom of a story that tackles the thorny matter of Israel and the Palestinian territories by way of the relationship between two young New Yorkers whose romantic involvement brings them into conflict with each other's respective backgrounds. The book morphs from apparent chick-lit in its first half to Middle Eastern thriller in the second; Burton-Hill makes the point about love and peace without lecturing, and I believe she has found a way to show some very real situations without upsetting anybody, too. These days that takes a lot of doing.

Two happy birthdays!

Two musicians I feel very lucky to know are both celebrating birthdays today. Have a listen to celebrate.

First, here is my very special colleague Philippe Graffin, the poetic and creative French violinist, in a track from the album Hungarian Dances, recorded in 2008 and inspired by my novel of the same title.  Claire Désert is the pianist. This is the enchanting Marche miniature viennoise by Fritz Kreisler - OK, not Hungarian at all, but huge fun and gorgeously played. (Onyx)



The second very happy birthday goes to British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, who's turning all of 22 this sunny Tuesday. He has a new album out soon, a delicious mixed programme celebrating dance all the way from Bach to Boogie-Woogie (that marvellous etude by Morton Gould). Tip: make sure that when you get it you download the "deluxe" version so that you also have the bonus tracks. They include possibly the most stunning performance of Liszt's Gnomenreigen that you or anyone else will ever hear in this day and age. Since it's not out yet, here's his Ravel 'Ondine' from Gaspard de la Nuit. (Decca)

What does it mean to be an artist?

I had a note the other week from a hip-hop songwriter/rapper in the US, Anthony Tomaz, asking me to have a look at his story. I don't cover much rap, as you've probably noticed - it's never been my cuppa - but this film from Fuse News touched me very strongly.

Most of Anthony's family seems to have been jailed; he was homeless in New York for two years; but now he has a recording contract. He suggests that his music saved him. And he talks in this video about the way he is always writing, wherever he is, anytime and all the time - the way the sounds and words grip him and demand expression comes over unmistakably.

What does it mean to be an artist? Exactly this. Your medium, whether it's microtonality or minimalism, rap or Rachaminov, news or novels, takes hold of you and insists you make it real. You therefore learn how to do it and develop your ability to the utmost, or you feel you're letting down more than only yourself.

It's never easy to explain this to anyone who hasn't experienced it and thinks you should shut up and get a proper job. (I had a Twitter message yesterday from a gentleman who thinks I'd be a good traffic warden, but it turned out this had something to do with women in uniform...er, right...)

But the concept of the creative artist is not dead, despite the 21st century's best efforts to kill it, because it is a human phenomenon that stays with us and can keep us on the rails, or restore us to them when we've fallen off.

I said to Anthony that I would run his story, because it's an inspiration and he is an artist. Nothing stops him from making music. Here it is.