Terry Clinton   Wed, 12 Jan 2000 15:39:37 +1100
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Hello all,

It's been a long time since I made a contribution to the list (or even read
everything that arrives in my inbox) due to the usual "busy life" scenario.
So here goes...

A native of Toowoomba in the Australian state of Queensland, I'm in my 39th
year (rapidly approaching the mark that I once considered to be the advent
of old age... of course I know better now). I subscribed to the list in '95
after moving to Sydney from Newcastle (on Hunter) and beginning a Master's
in historical musicology on a lute-related topic (it's still in progress,
sigh). At that time I'd just finished a BMus, majoring in
guitar/musicology. During my degree, and heavily influenced by an inspiring
early music practitioner on the staff of my university, I had been studying
the early plucked strings repertoire and planning to purchase a lute or
vihuela as soon as finances allowed.

A little windfall made possible the purchase of an eight-course student
lute by John Lucas in Sydney, and recently I've ordered a vihuela from John
(I'm going to get it in A, so the EM vocal group that occasionally calls me
in to accompany them with the Narvaez arrangement of Josquin's Mille
Regrets don't have to sing down in their boots!).

After some years of studenthood one was forced to earn a living, and these
days I'm working in the media office of the University of Technology,
Sydney (a return, for the moment, to my first profession - journalism).

Music, however, still is a (the) core interest. I'm singing with a couple
of community choirs and a quartet called Touchwood, which performs an
eclectic mix of early music, folky stuff and four-part arrangements of
contemporary songs. It's with Touchwood that I'm getting to play more
frequently in public lately - songs by Sermisy, Dowland and Vasquez, among
others. It won't be a major revelation to many of you, but there's a niche
for early music in the folk scene, with performance possibilities in the
folk clubs and festivals. Touchwood has done a few such gigs and the odd
self-promoted concert. It's not paying the bills yet, but that doesn't stop
me plotting. If you're a festival goer (and you happen to be in
Australia... OK the East Coast of Australia... all right then, New South
Wales) Touchwood will be performing at the Jamberoo Folk Festival, not far
south of Sydney, in March. See you there!!

Terry Clinton