Words of thanks.....

A very belated thanks for your part in making Abbie and Huw's wedding such a memorable occasion.  Your music was very much appreciated by all of us and really set the tone for a wonderful start to the celebrations.
It's only when looking back at the photographs that I could really appreciate where you had positioned yourselves and how the setting complimented your ensemble.
Many thanks again,
Kind regards
Josie

Words of thanks.....

Wedding at Tracy Park, Wick - November 2010

Michelle & Julia,

Thank you so much for helping to make our day so special!

With our very best wishes

Jason & Jenny

The Dunkley's "Pink Ball" : Aztec Spa and Hotel

We had Topaz as part of our summer ball’s entertainment and were extremely grateful for the way they were able to start the evening with class and sophistication.

In addition to that we had some particular requests for music, which they were able to accommodate and made the occasion very special.

A great way for any event to start.

Mike Dunkley of Dunkley's Chartered Accountants

Wedding : Priston Mill nr Bath

We had a lovely afternoon playing for Karen and Andy's wedding reception at Priston Mill's beautiful Tythe Barn yesterday - even if it was a little blustery!!

We played a variety of popular classical pieces including Pachelbel's Canon, Gluck's Dance of the Blessed Spirits, The Flower Duet and the Air from Handel's Water Music, plus many others.

Many congratulations to the happy couple!!

Letter of thanks....

Charity Concert at St Andrew’s Church, Backwell – October 2010

Dear Julia,

I'm so sorry to have taken so long to thank you and Michelle for the really excellent concert you gave us in Backwell - so many people have said how enjoyable it was! I have been waiting to find out the final total of money raised. That has been delayed because the man dealing with Gift aided donations for Christian Aid was away. However he is back and so we now know that we raised  £441 in total. This was really wonderful, and of course was partly the result of your generosity in reducing your fee. THANK-YOU to both of you, and I do hope you enjoyed the visit and thought your kindness to us was worth it.

Thanks again and best wishes and love to you both,

Jean

Topaz on YouTube

You can now listen to us play on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urO0KaujZ9M

We hope you enjoy listening!

Concerts

We are as equally at home on the stage, as we are at providing beautiful background music.  Here is one of our past programmes:

Fantasia on Greensleeves arr. for flute and harp, Ralph Vaughan-Williams

Sunstreams and Sunday Morning, Ian Clarke

Sonata in G for Flute and Continuo "Hamburger Sonata", C.P.E Bach

Fantaisie, Op 124 for violin and harp arr. for flute and harp, Saint-Saens

Un Oiseau en Mai "A Bird in May", Jean Sichler

Cafe 1930 and Bordel 1900 from "Histoire du Tango", Astor Piazzolla

Beyond the Dark, Dave Heath

Topaz @ The Bristol Music Club

Working with Debbie Clarke

In May 2008 Topaz were approached by singer Debbie Clarke to play for her debut album "First Impression".

We had a busy time playing arrangements of acoustic tracks, including:  Song For the Asking, Ombra Ma Fu, Love of My Life, Bright Eyes, New Day, The Soldier.  A number of tracks were played on BBC Radio 2's Good Morning Sunday Show with Aled Jones. 

Here are a few words from Debbie:

"Topaz are a wonderful and accomplished duo. With Michelle's beautiful 'voice like' legato line and Julia's magical and light touch they make a marvellous duo.  It was a pleasure not only to work with such talented instrumentalists, but also very nice people on my debut album."

Debbie has recently worked with record producer Tony Visconti for her new album which features Leonard Cohen's "Bird On A Wire".

You can find out more about Debbie at: www.myspace.com/debbieclarkemusic

Topaz at The Grand - Thistle Hotel, Bristol

On Sunday 27th February we went along to our first "Prom Fayre" at the Thistle hotel in Bristol.

We met some lovely people including Valerie from www.icandynailsandbeauty.co.uk who took the photo of us playing and Adrian of www.gaynorphotography.com who took the fantastic picture of us both - Thanks :)

www.gaynorphotography.com

Words of thanks.....

Wedding at Forde Abbey, Chard - May 2010

Michelle & Julia,

I am conscious that we never actually spoke, even though you played at my wedding last weekend!  It was rather hectic with registrars and guests arriving etc - but I wanted to thank you for the lovely music, and for your seamless efforts to set up without any fuss at all.

The music was just lovely (and as you probably noticed put me on the "emotional edge" for the ceremony!)

The rest of the day was truly fabulous - the perfect send-off into married life; we are very lucky.

Thanks again

Rich & Sarah

Final Wedding of 2010

For our final wedding of the year we played at the beautiful Kingscote Barn near Tetbury (www.thekingscotebarn.co.uk), although this wedding had a twist as it was the wedding of our flautist Michelle!

Our First Blog!!

Welcome to our shiny new blog page and website (www.topazduo.co.uk).

We will be keeping you up to date with places we've been, people we met and most importantly the music we have played.  If you have heard us play or met us, please post a comment we'd love to hear from you!!

Best wishes

Michelle and Julia - Topaz Flute & Harp Duo

photo by Adrian Gaynor