I met Zeke in the early 2000s at New England Music Camp. We swam together in “swim for fit” (I was terrible and he was kind and encouraging) and traded jokes in orchestra (the viola section sat just below the oboes – mostly the jokes were about burning violas or burning oboes). I kept in…
I met Chris in Munich. I was walking from the S-Bahn from the airport with two big suitcases. It had started snowing heavily and Chris, seeing me struggling to cross the road in time, came over to help me. During our short walk to my godfather’s apartment, where I was staying, we realised Chris and…
I remember when we were rehearsing for the King’s College London Symphonic Orchestra’s second concert, in that cold and large room on the Strand campus. It was in early February, we were all tired and sniffling from the cold, but rehearsing Finladia by Sibelius made our hearts warm and fingers move on our instruments. Chris…
With our condolences and best wishes, this is the Adagio Espressivo from Beethoven’s last violin sonata. Gratefully and humbly dedicated to the memory of Christopher, who gave us and so many others so much warmth and inspiration. Thank you.
In 2018 I was asked to play for a carol concert for SKY and asked my colleague Peter Stark if he could recommend someone to lead this – ‘someone warm, kind, inclusive, communicative and joyful’ – Peter said ‘I have the very person – Chris McMullen-Laird’. And he was all these things, and more.
