Welsh pianist and composer DAVID WESTCOTT is between cities at the moment, or should we say he’s between three cities; Paris, London and Cardiff, which he calls home.
“I spend between two and three months every year in Paris, after I fell in love with the French language following a trip to Morocco. I spend half of my life in coffee houses — whether I’m in Cardiff, London, or Paris — people watching and composing. I’m very at home in all of these cities. I also spend 10 days a month in London.”
Sigh! How wonderful!
He goes on: “When I’m in my three favourite cities, I go to my regular spots. I’m very old school, so in Paris I’ll buy Le Parisien (their print newspaper). In Cardiff and London, I get the ‘I’ (print newspaper) in the morning before I set off for my day’s work, composing.
We’d love to call David a stylish old-school ROMANTIC from yesteryear, and hearing how he lives makes me ache with envy. It’s as though David has dropped in on us from the past with his softly spoken voice with its gorgeous Welsh twang, and his chat about all things old-school and vintage. Hearing him talk, I am not surprised at all about his love of the past.
He continues: “I’m quite the vintage/antique hoarder and if you come to my house you’ll feel like you’ve been transported back in time. Some of my so’s friends call my living room the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ room, as it’s very much from that period in design. Many of my guests leave lovely comments about it. I have a huge collection of vintage china that I’ve bought from local swap meets (car boot sales) and flea markets over the years that now have pride-of- place in the original Welsh dresser that sits in the corner of my dining room.
“I love a bargain too, so I have no shame in taking furniture and other bits of abandoned homewares off the streets, items that people have discarded. I have chairs, bureaus, mirrors, doors — you name it — all from the streets of Cardiff and London, proudly rehoused in my vintage paradise!”
Classical Composer DAVID WESTCOTT who’s written scores for the National Dance Company of Wales, and who has worked with the London Symphony Orchestra among others. PHOTO BY SAVAS SELAMANIDIS
