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ClareStevens

@silverlawn.bsky.social
362 followers 307 following 535 posts

Writer, editor and occasional publicist, specialising in classical music, choral music and music education. Northern Irish by birth, graduate of a Scottish university, now living in the Welsh Marches after 30 years in London.

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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
🤦‍♀️
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
I've known about the Sacconis' residency in Folkestone ever since it started, but have never made it to any of their events, though I've heard them elsewhere. An ambition for next year perhaps!
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Do you know about this event, Lucy? Might be up your street (literally and metaphorically!) www.soundsfolkestone.co.uk/events/treel... I am already committed to a choral festival in Brecon that weekend, otherwise I would have tried to get to it.
soundsfolkestone.co.uk
TREELINE (UK Premiere): Graham Fitkin (composer) & Sacconi Quartet | Sounds Folkestone
Graham Fitkin Sacconi Quartet
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
I definitely did! 18,000 of them on the Tuesday and 13,500 on the Wednesday.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Thank you so much for this first-hand account of some of the 'protests', Sam. I was in Belfast for the Book Festival, and it was very, very weird having to walk out from town to my accommodation in Finaghy when the buses and trains stopped, just as I used to do in the mid 70s.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
I did wonder when you said at the book festival that you never watch TV if you'd given up Casualty! Glad to know your bio is still accurate.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Also really sorry that the closure of the Crescent on my last evening meant I couldn't say goodbye to people. I was gutted to miss being in the same room with Martin, though his online conversation with Jan was great, and of course the important thing was the everyone was safe.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Sorry I am late responding to this - took the Bluesky app off my phone. I loved meeting you too and was really sorry that the talks I'd booked so long ago weren't the ones you were introducing. The festival was fab apart from clashes!
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
I've just photographed my journal entry and maybe I'll be able to show them to you at the Belfast Book Festival - basically it starts with a shorter version of your description and then wanders off into reminiscences of my own visits to Newgrange since childhood, and quotations about the place.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Facebook, Substack, LinkedIn, WhatsApp. I haven't closed my unnamable account because I do occasionally need to see what other people are posting, though I haven't checked it for so long that I'm currently locked out!
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Oh, hurray! It's such a fabulous house, full of treasures and in such a beautiful location. Does this work mean visitors might be allowed to linger a little longer in the rooms? I visited in 2022 and felt the tour was a bit quick.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
I keep forgetting about Bluesky! Just too many platforms to keep track of, and I've been reading an awful lot of actual books, tryig not to spend my entire time on screens.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
@lucycaldwell.bsky.social I read All Grown Up this morning and I cannot begin to express how much I loved it and how many resonances it has for me. Although you are so much younger than me, you represent my experience of a Northern Irish identity / heritage better than anyone of my own generation.
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Lucy Caldwell @lucycaldwell.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
In today's Irish Times, an essay I wrote about the winter solstice at Newgrange, the importance of our sacred sites, about surrender, and about finding light in the darkness ✨
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
I'm reading Devotions at the moment – I really loved this story, because I watched the Solstice at Newgrange the very same day that you did, and wrote a journal entry about it. Felt surreal to relive the experience in your book.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Sorry I forgot to take the time to check back on Bluesky to see if there were any responses to my post! So many platforms ... Anyway, it was a real pleasure. Feeling I want to do the same with Lucy Caldwell's Devotions now but I have several loomingdeadlines for completely different articles.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Wrote about my responses to Jan Carson's @jancarsonwrites.bsky.social new novel Few and Far Between and its resonances for me on Substack - my posts are a bit random so there's no paywall, just keep clicking until you can read it: open.substack.com/pub/clareste...
open.substack.com
On Reading Few and Far Between by Jan Carson
Pub: Doubleday h/b 9 April 2026
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Arrived this morning in Presteigne, Wales ... the new novel by one of my favourite authors, @jancarsonwrites.bsky.social It's set around Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland and it begins with a map, always a delight (cf Malcolm Saville's Lone Pine books and John Rowe Townsend's novels for teenagers).
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Royal Philharmonic Society @royalphilsoc.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
We're excited to be at @southbankcentre.bsky.social's Queen Elizabeth Hall next week for the #RPSAwards! On Thurs 12 March we'll celebrate musicians and achievements in classical music nationwide. Tickets from £10 (plus venue fees) available here: royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/awards/rps_m...
RPS Awards graphic, featuring images of past winners (Anna Lapwood, Nicola Benedetti, Sheku Kanneh-Mason) holding RPS 'lyres' trophies. Text reads - 'Join us Next Week for Classical Music's biggest night, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 7.00pm 12 March Tickets from £10 plus venue fees.' At the bottom is the 2026 RPS Awards logo, a white lyre with text which reads ' Royal Philharmonic Society Awards 2026.' Blue background.
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Royal Philharmonic Society @royalphilsoc.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Applications for Sound and Music's 'In the Making' development programme – for young music and sound creators in the UK aged 14-18 – are open until Monday 20 April 2026. Discover more at: soundandmusic.org/programmes/i...
soundandmusic.org
In the Making - Sound and Music
In the Making is the UK's only year-long artist development programme for young music creators aged 14–18. Each year, 50 young creators with a passion for music come together from all over the UK for ...
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Absolutely wonderful books – I think I had about half of them. My favourites were Stone Age Man in Britain and Marco Polo, goodness knows why.
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
'Storm light' by UK contemporary printmaker Mikki Bowers #WomensArt
Print featuring the silhouette of a bare hedgerow under a purple sky filled with birds flying in group formation
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churchtimes.bsky.social @churchtimes.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
A £400,000 grant to increase children’s participation in church choirs was announced by the Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board (#SMMIB) on Sunday 🎶 #churchtimes #churchnews #music
churchtimes.co.uk
SMMIB grant awarded to get more children singing in church choirs
A £400,000 grant to increase children’s participation in church choirs was announced by the Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board (SMMIB) on Sunday. The “Choir Project” — a partnership with the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) — aims ...
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Larry the Cat @number10cat.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
15 years ago today I arrived on Downing Street in a cage. I've seen off Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak and I'm still going strong. Only two Prime Ministers have ever done longer stints here: William Pitt the Younger and Sir Robert Walpole. Bill and Bob - I'm coming for you... (Photos AP)
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Royal Philharmonic Society @royalphilsoc.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Our friends and RPS Advance Corporate Members Swaledale Festival invite you to join them for a fortnight of music, arts and walking across North Yorkshire, with public booking open today! You can find out more and book via our website: royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/whats_on/swa...
royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk
Swaledale Festival 2026
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Andy Marshall @fotofacade.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
🚐 ⛰️ 🌊 📸 🏛️ ❄️ 🌼 More info here: www.digest.andymarsh...
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
… they will know of actual choral arrangements. Majella and Andrew findable by googling their choirs, or let me know if you need email addresses for them or Richard.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Seriously Jan, talk to Andrew Nunn who conducts the National Youth Choir of Northern Ireland, Richard Yarr at the BBC in Belfast who has adjudicated many School Choir of the Year competitions and Majella Hollywood who is chief executive of Chamber Choir Ireland in Dublin to get suggestions …
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
That’s more the sort of thing Jan’s after! There are some very good arrangements.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
I do.
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The Gesualdo Six @thegesualdosix.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Ticking off another English cathedral! Last week we gave our first concert in the magnificent Lichfield Cathedral. Over recent years we've built a strong relationship with the cathedral, which hosted the first of our Choral Singing Days initiatives with The G6 Charity.
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Andy Marshall @fotofacade.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
📝 Field Notes from my Camper-van-camino: 📸 My services for free at Broadwell in Oxfordshire. www.digest.andymarsh...
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
@jancarsonwrites.bsky.social Most of my acquaintances won’t understand how completely bonkers it feels for me as a Presbyterian from Finaghy to have an article published in The Tablet about a pipe organ in a convent in London, but I know you will! www.thetablet.co.uk/arts/all-sto...
thetablet.co.uk
What is a rare French organ doing in the chapel of a London Catholic school? - The Tablet
Bentley’s chapel, meanwhile, is due to have its ineffectual mixture of fluorescent strips and theatre spotlights replaced by elegant pendant lights, similar
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Ooooh!
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Good heavens that carpet is indeed WILD!
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
What a brilliant photo. Such clarity! And it really speaks to me, an ex-Londoner.
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Ed Davey @eddavey.libdems.org.uk · 10/11/2025
Trump wants to destroy the BBC and take our money. And Nigel Farage is egging him on. All true patriots should tell them both: hands off our BBC.
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Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
"We had never read anything quite like it," said Roddy Doyle www.npr.org/2025/11/10/n...
npr.org
'Flesh' wins 2025 Booker Prize: 'We had never read anything quite like it'
David Szalay uses spare and sparse language to follow one Hungarian-British man from his teen years through middle age. The prestigious prize honors the best English-language novels published in the U...
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Michael Hogan @michaelhogan100.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Gillian Anderson at her most heartbreaking! Blue Lights faces among cast! But Lola Petticrew steals the show! Here's my review of new drama #Trespasses, which airs from Sunday to Wednesday on Channel 4 www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfi...
standard.co.uk
Trespasses on Channel 4 review: Gillian Anderson at her most heartbreaking
This story of forbidden love in Troubles-era Belfast is raw, warm and ultimately uplifting
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
But the Ulster Museum is brilliant - fantastic history and natural history galleries, and a wonderful art collection.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
The highlights of the Botanic Gardens are the tropical ravine and the palm house, which don’t depend on summer weather - there are bright formal flower beds in summer and some roses, but it’s not like the botanic gardens in Oxford or Edinburgh - I haven’t been to Glasnevin.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Yes indeed. I washed my hands near or next to her in the Ladies’ loos at the RAH more than once, or passed the two of them in the corridor. Fantastic actors and genuine music lovers. How their family will miss them both.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Funny you should mention the lack of birds at Edinburgh Waverley just now, apart from that lone Wren … I did think when I saw you working out of that tiny cupboard and on the platforms without a blade of grass in sight that the urban setting was a quite a long way from your outdoor happy places!
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Is this allowed or is it too much a normal signpost for #fingerpostfriday? On the Isle of Bute.
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richard mortimer @richardmortimer.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
The Joy of Cambridge: Egyptian-style Art Deco Cinema that the owners want to demolish to maximise profits. Maximising profits is what has killed the earth and its cultures.
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Jan Carson @jancarsonwrites.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
A quick reminder that this wee gem goes out this afternoon at 3:45pm. If you miss it you can catch up later on BBC Sounds.
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Shantha Mohan, Ph.D., DTM @shlead.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” ― Cicero Wishing you a relaxing evening and a fabulous Friday with this reddish pink dahlia delight from Gamble Garden! #dailyflowers 🌱 #flowerreport #bloomscrolling
A reddish-pink Dahlia Teddy and green leaves.

Camera: iPhone 15 Pro.

From Gamble Garden on a visit in September 2025.
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
See you at Waverley, all being well! In the meantime, hope @petroc.bsky.social is waking up in Inverness to skies as beautiful as this on Bute this morning.
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churchtimes.bsky.social @churchtimes.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Rosie Dawson reviews two programmes about #Wales, #art, and love offered some welcome respite in a week otherwise dominated by noisy discussion about speech and its consequences #Radio #Reviews 📻🎨
churchtimes.co.uk
Radio review: Artwork: Love’s Moment: R. S. Thomas and Mildred Eldridge and In the Studio: Jon Foreman: Art that goes out with the tide
Two programmes about Wales, art, and love offer Rosie Dawson some welcome respite
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ClareStevens @silverlawn.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Breathtaking colours on the Isle of Arran today.
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