My son's partner is a young classical composer and she has been commissioned to write a piece for performance in Cambridge next year. She would like to write a piece for cello and melodeon and so I wondered if anyone out there in mudcat land might be able to suggest some london based, preferably female, box players who might have the appropriate capabilities. The e-mail she sent to me with the details is below.....
Cheers,
Richard Ashe aka Dick The Box

I've been commissioned to write a new piece which will be performed on 30th January 2011 in a Sunday lunchtime concert at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge http://www.kettlesyard.co.uk/
The concert will last for an hour and will be made up of a piece I wrote a couple of years ago for cello and dance (there are some pictures of a previous performance of this piece on my website http://www.hannahvarty.com/page8.htm), the Ligeti Cello Sonata performed by the cellist and then the new piece. The brief I have been given is to write a piece for cello and one other instrument which will also include choreography by the same choreographer as the first piece. I'd really like to use melodeon as the other instrument as I think it'd work well with the cello and it's portability allows for some movement. The choreographer is keen to incorporate some kind of movement into what the musicians are doing so I am looking for someone who is open to experimentation and won't be put off by being expected to be more involved in the performance than simply providing a soundtrack!

The fee is somewhere between £200-250 and that will include the rehearsals as well. Ideally it would be best to find someone who lives in or near to London as we will need to rehearse with the other players. The rest of the performers are all female, and though not essential, it might be nice to continue that theme if you know of any female players? Don't worry if not. They would need to read music.