Cycling viola player adds another bowl to his strings
Last year, we reported how one Alistair Rutherford had achieved the unlikely but noble feat of running the fastest marathon dressed as a viola. As this issue goes to press, the music research assistant and his outfit are set to hit the road again, this time covering the 180 miles from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire to the 45th International Viola Congress in Rotterdam by bicycle (with some sea in between, obviously). Rutherford is being joined for the trip – which aims to raise funds for the musical charity ARCO – by pianist Anthony Hewitt who, as our regular readers will know, is a veteran long-distance cyclist. For viola-related reasons too complex to explain here, Hewitt will also be dressing up… as a loo. We will, of course, refrain from viola jokes and toilet humour as we wish ‘The Cycling Viola’ and ‘The Olympianist’ the best of luck on their joint venture.