Acknowledgements
Family members
Graeme Davidson, my husband, for supporting me throughout my career, understanding that meant constant international travel and picking up the slack at home.
Nicola Davidson, my daughter, for not taking no for an answer, and being so generous with her time, particularly in helping me shape my thoughts for this website.
Julia Markell, my daughter, who didn’t always love the fact my career took me away from home so much, but now takes pride in showing her daughters what their grandmother used to do.
Madisyn Markell, my granddaughter, for the beautiful songbird drawing which is the theme of the website.
Evie Markell, my granddaughter, for helping to select the photographs which bring the stories to life. Ably supported by Maddie.
Margaret Marshall, my mother, sadly no longer with us, who worked so hard but always had time to help with the children and beyond being a grandmother, became a real and dear friend to them.
My brothers, Robert and Alan, and my sister-in-law Jeni.
Colouring by Madisyn Markell
Others
Gavin Bates, for proof-reading and rivalling Nicola as my number one fan.
Alison Boyd, by far our longest-serving nanny, who looked after my children for more than a decade and survived the experience in one piece.
BBC Radio 3, for enabling me to include the 3 Strauss songs.
Boosey & Hawkes, for enabling me to include Dies Natalis.
Alex Edouard for designing and building this website.
John Fraser, for the early school days, his wonderful piano accompaniment, and decades of friendship.
Guenter Haenssler, for being so kind to share his contacts.
Hans Hotter, for my Munich studies, his belief in my talent, and his encouragement to enter the competition in Munich in 1974 which launched my international career
Philip Hobbs, for taking the time to listen, with John, to all the music, help me select the best pieces, and present them for the platform
Frau Gunter Kehr, for kindly giving me permission to use the Dies Natalis performed by the Mainzer Kammerorchester and the conductor Gunter Kehr.
Ena Mitchell, my one in a million teacher, for unlocking my potential and completely sharing her extraordinary musicianship and insight with me.
Ann Murray, whose friendship I have valued through thick and thin.
Jacob Mokin, who showed me it was possible to find recordings I didn’t even know existed.
The Bayerische Rundfunk, the Saarlaendische Rundfunk, the Nord Deutsche Rundfunk and the Mainzer Kammerorchester.
Jonathan Summers at the BBC.
All the wonderful colleagues and musicians I worked with throughout my career.