I had started working on a new arrangement, but took a break from it and thought that it would be worthwhile (quicker?) to digitize another hand-written one: Danse Macabre, which I arranged in 1989/1990 to perform at the 1990 Yamaha Electone Festival on the HX-1. Having started yesterday, by lunchtime…
It’s been 2 weeks since I last published an arrangement! As much as I’ve wanted to work on some more arrangements, I’ve had other more pressing things to focus on. However, thumbing through a book I’d not opened in a few years to start choosing pieces to practice up for…
Four final video performances were submitted to the 2025 Australian Guild of Music & Speech Virtual Festival late last night, and the reports have already come back! Congratulations to everyone who prepared a performance, even if it wasn’t 100% polished and perfected. Well done to Sarah, Darshan, Chloe and Manuli!…
Congratulations to Hannah and Maya for earning Gold awards in the 2025 AGMS Virtual Festival! Today is the final day for submitting entries – we’ll record a few more performances this evening, and then that will be it for another year. Well done to all those who worked hard on…
Two more certificates have arrived from the 2025 Australian Guild of Music & Speech’s Virtual Festival! Congratulations to Lizzy (Grade 4 Piano) and Jessie (Grade 1 Piano) for their Platinum Awards! Both recorded wonderful performances of a piece they are working on for examination later this year.
I like to attend a variety of professional development activities throughout the year, to pick up new ideas and resources. Today I completed one on Tech Tools for Music Teachers through Midnight Music. Some of the tools covered I have been using for years, but I did learn about some…
I published an arrangement of Mental As Anything’s “Live It Up” on Friday, which brings the total of contemporary pieces published to 5. I decided to reorganise how I post the contemporary arrangements on the Music With Simone Shop, as I’m aiming to continue to add several new pieces each…
The theme from the BBC TV serial “EastEnders” was the first arrangement I wrote for electronic organ – an easier one around Yamaha Grade 8 level. It’s now been digitised and tidied up; I had written an introduction, but I’ve left it off to enable it to fit neatly on…
The newest arrangement added to the new Music With Simone Shop is one that I completed today, of a piece I’ve been eager to play at our monthly Theatre Organ Society concerts. I have a number of versions of Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer” in my own library, but I’ve found them frustrating…
Frank Mills’ “Happy Song” was the first organ arrangement that I ever wrote down, around the age of 9 years old! Writing arrangements was a requirement for the Yamaha Organ exams I completed, and I’m so glad that I had to arrange songs from an early age, as I soon…
