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Publication Date:	26 April 2016
ISBN: ISBN 13:	1-785384-84-8 978-1-785384-84-4
Page Extent:	370
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Price:	£9.99
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Publication Date:	26 April 2016
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-- Reviews by the Famous and well Known

Maggie Cotton has superbly documented her life's adventure as a prominent orchestral musician in her first class book "Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument". The psychological roller-coaster life of a touring orchestral musician is not easily understood but Maggie has put forward an honest and candid account of such a life, touching the reader through a myriad of emotions not to mention a fair share of wit. As a musician and percussionist I have admired Maggie's performances for many years but as a communicator through the written word there is no doubt that she is equally adept and fluent. This book must reach the hands of all musicians and lovers of music - it is a fantastic read.
Dame Evelyn Glennie DBE, Scottish Virtuoso Percussionist

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On a personal level I find it a fascinating read, and I am sure that many other CBSO fans will also be interested to hear these stories from a player's perspective.
Stephen Maddock, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (Chief Executive)

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A terrific book! (Photo: Author Maggie Cotton with Sir Simon Rattle).
Sir Simon Rattle, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director (Berlin Philharmonic)

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I found Maggie's story particularly intriguing as I have never really known or, to be honest, even thought about the in-depth running of an orchestra! I'm sure the uninitiated, like myself, will find this book very interesting, and those who are fans of orchestral music will certainly empathize with her. Maggie writes in such a matter of fact and pleasant manner that this book was a joy to read.
Sheila Collins, Author of 'Truffles' Diary' & 'Truffles' Diary: One Year On'

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Maggie Cotton tells it like it is – with humour and phenomenal insight, coupled with Yorkshire sagaciousness; she opens up the little known world of being an orchestral percussionist for all and sundry.
Highly recommended for all percussionists and an actual MUST for women percussionists entering the world of symphonic music. Extremely well written and factual, by an incomparable talent.
Ian Turnbull, Former Percussion Instructor Faculty of Music (University of Western Ontario, Canada)

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As an American, I am sorry that I can't claim energetic, talented Maggie Cotton as my compatriot. But as a former orchestral player I feel that we are kindred spirits. If you have ever wondered what it is like to be in this business Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument, is the book for you. It's all there: The joys, the sacrifices, the heartbreaks, the surprises, the annoyances. Maggie takes us through her impressive career, from fledgling to seasoned professional and shows us every aspect of survival in a major orchestra, from how to get fed during crazy work schedules to keeping one's sanity when playing under an incompetent conductor. Amazing Maggie is not only a first rate musician, but she is also unsurpassed as a writer. As I approached the end of this book, I found myself slowing down - didn't want to finish. When I did, I bought three of Maggie's books to give to friends. Go, thou, and do likewise.
Libby Hedrick, Former Co-Director of the New York State Early Music Association

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Every starry-eyed young musician who aspires to become a professional orchestral-player should be required to read this excellent book – surely destined to become a classic of its kind – for it reveals just what life is life as a member of a first-class orchestra. The author, acutely aware of her own early struggles to achieve her ambition, which she overcame with immense determination, captures the reader’s attention not only by the elegance of her literacy skill, but with captivating humour too. Many books written about the stars of the musical firmament are full of adulation, but this is far more truthful, so that Maggie Cotton’s down-to-earth account rings with far more conviction than all those sycophantic, ghost-written autobiographies. Yet this is not just about a hermetically-sealed, idealised life-style of sophisticated concert giving, it is about domestic responsibilities, the joys, fulfilment – and often the anxieties – of family life; a truly human book, immensely stimulating and inspiring.
Arthur Butterworth MBE, Conductor of Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra & Composer

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-- Newspaper and Website Reviews

CAUSING A SENSATION
Saga Magazine

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A warts and all account of life behind the scenes of a professional orchestra.
Neil Atkinson, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner (News Editor)

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Maggie Cotton has been a presence in my life for 40 years, ever since as a university undergraduate in Birmingham I attended my first City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra concert and spotted this redhead with attitude playing in the orchestra's ‘kitchen’ department.
I hated her for a while when she was brought in as a professional to play the percussion part in a university-promoted performance of Stravinsky’s Soldier's Tale, something which, as an amateur percussionist, I'd coveted myself.
I hated her even more when several years later she started to make the occasional (but always telling) contribution to Classical Music magazine, bringing revealing insights from the player's side of the rostrum. "This woman is not only a fabulous musician, but she can write, too!" I grumped to myself.
But it was a pleasure to get to know her when I was fortunate enough to be invited to spend time touring with the CBSO, and to experience her warmth, her friendliness, her innate commonsense, her inability to suffer fools (a trait we share) and her undimmed idealism.
And when she retired from the orchestra I was quick to invite her to join my hand-picked reviewing team on the Birmingham Post. I know it took her a lot of courage to accept, but she worked assiduously at the technical nuts and bolts of the task, writing to length, meeting deadlines, taking on board the quirks of italicisation and punctuation, and learning to swallow hard and shrug her shoulders when her fondly-shaped criticisms were mangled by insensitive subeditors.
Naturally there are restrictions on her reviewing work. She obviously has to steer clear of anything involving the CBSO and its extended family, and it was a while before I thought it fair to ask her to comment upon the work of other British orchestras as well, as she knew so many of their members. There are still certain composers and instruments which make her eyes glaze over, but she is a marvel at gritting her teeth and biting the bullet if I beg her to: that's part of her boundless good nature, and that is a quality which leaps from the page in this fascinating blend of autobiography, social history and musical plain speaking.
I like to think of this as only the first instalment of Maggie's Memoirs. The life she has led since retiring from the CBSO has been full of interest and incident, travel and cookery, gardening and talk-giving - and she has never lost her passion for the young, and for encouraging their talents.
More than enough material for at least another volume! But for the moment, enjoy this one. You will be hooked and enthralled, as I was when she first shyly (unusual quality for her) showed it me.
Christopher Morley, The Birmingham Post (Classical Music Correspondent) - Written the Foreword

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Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument
MusicStand

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CYMBAL OF ATTAINMENT IN A MAN'S WORLD
The Birmingham Post

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I’m not known for my pithiness, am I? Well, just this once I intend to try, for the sake of those desperate to get on with their Christmas shopping. However, just to be on the safe side, I’m putting my conclusion up-front. This book is unusual in content, candid to a fault, thoroughly absorbing, moving and mirthful, and requires virtually no prior knowledge of - or even particular interest in - "symphonic" music. Moreover, whole swathes of it read like a novel, and the cost/content ratio is vanishingly small. So, what’re you waiting for?
Before we – that is, I and anyone not already making a beeline for the bookshop – go any further, I must make a solemn declaration. I hereby swear that I have not been swayed - well, not much, anyway - by the fact that both the author and I hail from the West Riding of Yorkshire. Come to think of it, though, this does raise a particularly pertinent point: Yorkshire folk are renowned for not being backward at calling a spade a spade. The reason for telling you this will, I hope, be clear by the time I’m done.
What we have here is essentially a singularly intriguing autobiography, whose narrative is interspersed by a number of "divertimenti". Basically, instead of sticking strictly to chronological sequence, certain topics - which would otherwise pop up piecemeal – are dealt with more fully as and when they first arise. I like this approach, for exactly the same reasons that I enjoy musical divertimenti. The technique is elegantly managed: as the tale nears its end, so the narrative, just like the proverbial "old soldier", fades until, just like Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, all that remains is divertimento.
The subject matter is potentially controversial, or at least might be so-regarded in some quarters. That’s because this is not the tale of just any Yorkshire lass, but of the gritty Yorkshire lass who became the UK’s first female professional orchestral percussionist (not, you understand, to be confused with timpanist!). If this seems fairly hum-drum, then bear in mind that Maggie was born in 1937, in an age when sexual "equality" was limited to women having the right to vote, and when the job market - and pretty well anything else you care to mention – was firmly divided into boxes labelled "for the boys" and "for the girls".
In those days, unless they were truly exceptional players of acceptably "feminine" instruments, women were rarely admitted to any orchestra, never mind overtly masculine bastions like the Vienna Philharmonic. The binding thread of her narrative is her continual battle against what we would now call "prejudice", although historically it might more accurately be called "misperception". This theme is encapsulated in Maggie’s title, extracted from something said to her very early on (see p. 39!). Given that titular prominence, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that, to a large extent, this must have been the spur that drove her on.
Maggie, quite properly, starts at the very beginning, painting a vivid picture from her rich palette of childhood memories. I was fair brought up short to find how much of this matched my own memories – nothing much had changed in the ten years that separates our birth-dates. Incidentally – and this is as much of the plot as I’m going to let out of the bag! – it wasn’t only lasses whose winter wellies gave them red chap-lines across the backs of their knees. Back then, as I recall it, not even lads had the option of long pants. Slowly but surely, with that same graphic skill, Maggie paints her growing dream, embroiling you in her seemingly life-long battle to achieve, and then consolidate, her ambition. Even though we already know the outcome, the fact that the odds were stacked against her every bit of the way clearly contributes to the novel-like impact of the narrative.
Yet, there is far more here than mere description. There is something else, which for me sets this account a notch above many an autobiography, and a world away from your run-of-the-mill "kiss and tell" whistle-blower. That something is an uncommon degree of empathy with and awareness of the motivations behind people’s behaviour - including her own! To my mind, this is where Maggie really comes up trumps: even when she is dealing with people on their very worst behaviour, she does so with such immense fairness and understanding – excepting, of course, when that behaviour is utterly incomprehensible - that even the most curmudgeonly can have no cause for complaint. This really comes to the fore when Maggie is talking about her career with the CBSO, and even more so in her account – which is both heart-warming and hilarious – of her educational adventures, both with underprivileged and (especially) deaf children. I am not ashamed – nay, I’m pleased - to say that on more than one occasion this last brought a sizeable lump to my throat.
There is perhaps no field of human endeavour where more people are simultaneously working, in more distinct capacities and with greater precision, towards achieving a single goal, than the professional symphony orchestra. When you think about it, you do get to wondering how it is kept from exploding, how it can work at all - never mind work so consistently well. The main reason is the military discipline of the "system" in which, if a trooper steps out of line, he will in effect "be taken out and shot at dawn", and players speaking their minds are not – shall we say? - encouraged. That players – but not, it seems, conductors and management – are "gagged" by their contracts is only part of the complex disciplinary régime that Maggie dissects, exemplifying and elaborating on the workings of the internal organs of the orchestra.
And yes, inevitably there are explosions, disastrous breakdowns in human relations, along with the sad consequences – though she mentions only one that actually happened in public. It almost goes without saying that there is also much merriment – in reading some of Maggie’s multitudinous anecdotes, you run the risk of falling out of your chair laughing. It is evident that Maggie had something of a love/hate relationship with Simon Rattle, under whose baton she spent nearly half of her forty-year long CBSO career. Sometimes, metaphorically speaking, they were at each other’s throats, at other times, quite literally anything but – just read about Simon’s involvement with the deaf children! Experiencing, albeit at Maggie’s evocative second-hand, the many conflicting forces – including both political and inter-personal - at work serves only to strengthen our admiration for the robustness of the magnificent organism that is the professional symphony orchestra.
There is more – far, far more. Maggie goes into what seems like a million and one allied topics, ranging from international crises right down to general horse-work, social and family matters, even unto the best place to catch a quick "kip". Yet, nothing seems superfluous because, whatever she’s talking about, Maggie remains so engaging that the pages just fly by. Moreover, such is the eloquence of her style and the sheer quantity of information, this is a book that will happily bear repeated readings.
One rule of criticism that I learnt from the late Adrian Smith, the sole dedicatee of this book, was "never finish on an adverse comment". For once, out of sheer Yorkshire cussedness, I’m going to break that rule. So far, I haven’t mentioned any minuses, not so much as a single one. Yet, there are some. There are a few little patches where I got slightly muddled by the phraseology, a couple of homonymic bloopers, and I would have liked some parenthetical dates against events described during those divertimenti, as just occasionally I wondered if "X" had happened before or after "Y". But, that really is about it, other than feeling that, even at 364 pages, the book was too short! I suppose you could say that this is "praising with faint condemnation". Well, if so, then so be it. So, buy it!
Paul Serotsky, MusicWeb International

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Brimming with unique insights, this is also a wonderful tale, wonderfully told. I don’t so much recommend it as insist that you buy it, and the sooner the better ...
Paul Serotsky, MusicWeb International

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WRONG SEX, WRONG INSTRUMENT
The Federation of Recorded Music Societies Magazine

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WRONG SEX, WRONG INSTRUMENT
Christian Market Place Magazine

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Anyone who wants to know what it’s really like behind the scenes in the orchestral world could do no better than take an enjoyable romp through Maggie Cotton’s eminently readable book. As the first female percussionist of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra she got to work extensively with Simon Rattle 18 years before the mighty Berlin Philharmonic claimed him, and she witnessed at first hand the dramatic revival of a demoralised orchestra. Opening up the classical music scene from the players’ perspective, she is witty, to the point, and winningly down to earth - a brilliant read for music lovers.
Keith Clarke, Classical Music Magazine (Editor)

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Maggie Cotton, who blazed a trail for female percussionists in Britain in a career with the CBSO spanning 40 years, gives us the first player's-eye account of the orchestra's rise from provincial respectability to world renown – but a lot more besides. From a spartan wartime childhood in working-class Yorkshire to discussing the finer technical points of percussion instruments with Pierre Boulez, she takes us on a unique journey through postwar musical and social history, full of illuminating anecdotes which are sometimes hair-raising, sometimes laugh-out-loud hilarious.
Terry Grimley, The Birmingham Post (Arts Editor)

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Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument
by Maggie Cotton
Foreword: Christopher Morley
Pages: 364
Paperback
ISBN: 1-904444-71-7; 978-1-904444-71-8
Price: £9.99
The CBSO seems to have been part of my life’s horizon for a very long time yet to my shame I have been to very few of their concerts. I was born in Birmingham. My father sang the praises of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and when I was a student in Bristol (1971-75) I went to several of their concerts at the Colston Hall. In fact I attended far more concerts by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. That said, there are affection and respect there. It’s borne of tradition, borne of memorable recordings and of the CBSO’s determined allegiance – emphasised during Sakari Oramo’s tenure – to the byways of the repertoire.
My father also extolled the virtues of the founder conductor who was in post long before Maggie Cotton’s day and long before Boult took over the orchestra: T. Appleby Mathews (b. 1890s? - d. 1949). That was when the orchestra was simply the City of Birmingham Orchestra - CBO. Boult who held the CBO reins from 1924 to 1930 recorded the Bantock Hebridean Symphony with them under that shorter name on acoustic 78s. These were never issued - a fascinating revival project there for some dedicated engineer with access to the masters.
The orchestra’s first LP recording was made in the 1960s with Hugo Rignold (1905-1976). As far as I know they never made any 78s. That LP was a Lyrita (SRCS33) of Bliss’s Blow Meditations and the Music for Strings. These remain fine interpretations and we can only hope that they will not be neglected in the latest Lyrita reissue deal struck with Nimbus.
From my Bristol days I recall one not-wonderful concert conducted by Harold Gray and several luminous ones under Louis Frémaux (b. 1921) including an indelibly memorable Ma Mère l’Oye suite. Frémaux also impressed me enormously with a stunning EMI Studio 4 (EMI’s riposte to Decca’s Phase Four) recording of Massenet’s ballet music from El Cid. From 1977 there came the Walton coronation marches plus Te Deum and Gloria – still unequalled.
After such an introduction you might be expecting Maggie Cotton’s book to be entirely about the trials and tribulations of the CBSO written from the exalted podium vantage point of the percussionist. Music is certainly central to this beefy book but in addition we get lots of vivid 1950s and 1960s detail that will set readers of a certain age reminiscing. Scenes in mother’s kitchen, seasonal celebrations, a jam-making granddad, vintage sweets, appalling comments from teachers and a host of teeming period flavour.
The author was born in 1937 in Yorkshire. Her passion for music was inflamed by a performance Sibelius’s First Symphony by the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra given in Huddersfield Town Hall. In that connection I should mention the book’s dedication to the late Adrian Smith (a one-time reviewer for this site) the conductor of the Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra who often directed concerts in Huddersfield and whose attitude to repertoire was wonderfully refreshing and ambitious.
Maggie Cotton’s prentice efforts in local youth orchestras led to a successful audition for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in 1954. An early part involved playing the tambourine in Dvořák’s Carnival Overture. Thus were the foundations laid. Among her fellows in the NYO were Iona Brown, Rohan de Saram and Nicholas Braithwaite. There she also encountered conductors who were to have a major impact on her CBSO life: Hugo Rignold and Adrian Boult. But that would be after her studies at the RAM. Those years included participating in the multifarious percussion-encrusted A Grand Grand Overture by Malcolm Arnold – one of the Hoffnung concerts in 1956 and playing the xylophone in Holst’s Choral Symphony. The role played by the supportively benevolent James Blades should also be mentioned alongside her page-turning assignments for Wilfred Lehman and Alfredo Campoli.
In 1959 came her sub-principal percussionist job with the CBSO and at last financial security … even a van. Boult was there at first. There are a couple of anecdotes that will leave you shivering. Maggie must have developed a thick skin as the target of sexist banter in the very different man’s world of the orchestra at that time. And Boult was no exception, as we read. A very different world and one also conjured by the title. Boult stood down in 1960 with his place being taken by Hugo ‘Riggy’ Rignold.
Little character vignettes are dotted here and there throughout including a vivid pen portrait of RVW; one to add to the composer’s literature. There’s plenty of detail about Boult and Rattle and Oramo and Riggy. The latter’s instant dismissal of the tardy, defiant, foolhardily hot-headed and desperately unwise CBSO principal percussionist elevated Maggie to the lead percussion place. We also encounter the podium-dancing Louis Frémaux; he of the French Resistance and French Foreign Legion service. His years with the CBSO were a delight but they ended in bitterness.
There is much about Simon Rattle and not all of it very favourable. However his dynamic work ethic and vivid bawdy way with words and music are communicated with stunning vigour and touching sincerity. Rabelaisian - or is it Chaucerian - references to farts (think woodwind and brass) and sex were part of getting his message across to the orchestra at rehearsals. A particularly slinky passage had to be played not so much sensually ‘off the shoulder’ but shamelessly ‘topless’.
Maggie is delightfully direct – she leaves us in no doubt about her preferences – on retiring from the CBSO she cited one of her pleasures as the relief in not having to perform any more Elgar or Vaughan Williams. Coincidentally that was very much the Rattle line as well if I recall correctly his programmes on twentieth century music.
The book is smashing value combining what amounts to a musical biography over 239 pages with a further 140 pages of chapters reflecting on various themes in the music world into which are woven anecdotes, insights and experiences. We read about recording sessions, new music, composers with no idea what is practical for an instrumentalist, introducing children to classical music (how to do it and how not to do it), international tours, encounters with animals, work as an orchestral fixer for Northern concerts, dress codes, experience of conductors including those with a tendency to lecture the orchestra and much else. At other times the reader is treated to a delicious image of the orchestral players as a Chaucerian melee of bullies and misers, dipsos and Lotharios … and the rest.
Maggie also writes about of her excitement and pride in Birmingham. The Birmingham that was taking shape in the 1960s as the Bullring was built. There’s evident and fully justified pleasure in the orchestra’s new concert hall which makes even worse the small-minded slights or oversights by the scandalously thoughtless management who invited only part of the orchestra as guests to the official reception to launch the hall.
‘A weird old hag hitting things’? I think not!
Plenty to interest, provoke and reveal but precious it ain’t.
A perfect Christmas-New Year read.
www.musicweb-international.com

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A weird old hag hitting things? I think not! Plenty to interest, provoke and reveal – precious it ain’t. A perfect Christmas-New Year read ...
Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International (Classical Editor)

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WRONG SEX, WRONG INSTRUMENT
Classical Music Magazine

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MAGGIE RECALLS A LIFETIME OF MUSIC
The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

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STARBOOKS REVIEW
Shropshire Star

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WRONG SEX, WRONG INSTRUMENT
Symphony: The Magazine of the American Symphony Orchestra League

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This is a glorious page-turner of a book, written in a delightfully informal style that abounds in quotable quotes.
Michael Round, Classical Music Magazine

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Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument is a thoroughly inspiring and entertaining read. It is a true account of a woman's life in a male dominated professional orchestra and is told with great honesty and humour. Maggie Cotton is an excellent writer and has got some wonderful tales which will have you laughing out loud. A must read.
Andy Richardson, Walsall Express and Star

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I honestly thought that I would struggle to get past the first page with this book. Truth to tell, I couldn’t imagine anything more mind-numbingly boring than an account of one woman’s struggle to play with a symphony orchestra. Watching paint dry seemed positively orgasmic in comparison, but – a book reviewer has to do what a book reviewer has to do, and I soldiered on.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument is a riveting account of the author’s struggle to break in to a male-dominated profession. She managed, and broke the mould of musical misogyny forever.
To be honest, I’m a Philistine when it comes to music. I detest classical music in all its forms and would much rather listen to the Ramones than Bach, but personal tastes are immaterial in this arena. Maggie Cotton’s account is simply brilliant.
Did you know that formal evening shirts often have rude designs printed on the bits hidden by the dinner jacket? Nor did I, till I read Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument. Well illustrated and fat enough to fill the Albert Hall, this book is an eye-opener. Boring? Whoever could even think such a thing. Read, laugh, and be amazed.
Mike Hallowell, The Shields Gazette

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WRONG SEX, WRONG INSTRUMENT
Percussive Notes Magazine

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WRONG SEX, WRONG INSTRUMENT
Network: Making Music Magazine

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WRONG SEX, WRONG INSTRUMENT
Musician Magazine: The Journal of the Musicians' Union

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CLASSIC READS FOR ALL...
The Birmingham Post

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Maggie Cotton
Update: The Newsletter for the NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA of Great Britain

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WRONG SEX, WRONG INSTRUMENT
www.elitepercussion.com

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WRONG SEX, WRONG INSTRUMENT
The Brit (Madeira Newspaper)

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WRONG SEX, WRONG INSTRUMENT
Clacton Gazette

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WRONG SEX, WRONG INSTRUMENT
The Self Publishing Magazine

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WRONG SEX, WRONG INSTRUMENT
The Self Publishing Magazine

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WRONG SEX, WRONG INSTRUMENT
Pick Me Up Magazine

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-- Radio and TV

Maggie Cotton was interviewed by Philip Solomon on Wolverhampton City Radio 101.8FM, answering questions and talking about her book 'Wrong Sex, Wrong Wrong Instrument'.
Wolverhampton City Radio 101.8FM

Maggie Cotton was interviewed on her local radio station, BBC West Midlands 95.6FM, answering questions and talking about her book 'Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument'. Maggie appeared on the Carl Chinn show.
BBC West Midlands 95.6FM

-- Readers Comments

I simply loved it!
Roger Guy
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I really enjoyed this book and the detail of Maggie's experiences and her life as a professional musician.
Margaret Alcock
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An accurate portrayal of a musician's life, complete with all the trials and tribulations, agonies and ecstasies - this is how it really is. An intimate account of life as a professional orchestral musician . This book will be thoroughly enjoyed by all who read it – no musical experience required!
Colin Humphries
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This is an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable book which has gievn me great pleasure.
Geoffrey Mercer
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As a music student, beginning to experience life as a performer, I found this a most down to earth, realistic description of life behind the music stand. Full of interest and humour, I would recommend it to anyone.
Amy Littlewood
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Having been a regular CBSO patron for many years, I was fascinated to read Maggie's first hand account of her experiences as a player, written without gossip or offence, but with affection, honesty and humour. An intriguing read for anyone, 'musical' or not.
Renée Kingston
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I was in the orchestra from 1960, and would recommend anyone to read it. Why? Because care has been taken to make it factual, unbiased, amusing, informative, and a concert goers window into the day to day life of musicians in a real live orchestra. Warts and all. A jolly good read!
Philip Head
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She tells it how it is!
Peter Cole
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Full of anecdotes & insights into the life of a full time orchestral musician.
KJ Smale
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-- Book Signings and Events

Maggie Cotton talked about and signed copies of her book 'Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument' at the Clacton Arts & Literary Society, Princes Theatre, Clacton on Sea.
Clacton Arts & Literary Society, Princes Theatre, Clacton on Sea

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Maggie Cotton signed copies of her book at the 'Spring Fair 2007: The World's Essential Gift and Home Showcase'.
Spring Fair 2007: The World's Essential Gift and Home Showcase

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Maggie Cotton signed copies of her book at the 'Spring Fair 2007: The World's Essential Gift and Home Showcase'.
Spring Fair 2007: The World's Essential Gift and Home Showcase

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Maggie Cotton signed copies of her book at the 'The Burlington Hotel', Birmingham (Saga Holiday Group).
The Burlington Hotel, Birmingham (Saga Holiday Group)

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Maggie Cotton signed copies of her book at the 'Birmingham Conservatoire'.
Birmingham Conservatoire

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Maggie Cotton signed copies of her book 'Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument' at The Moseley Arts Market, Moseley.
Moseley Arts Market, Moseley

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Maggie Cotton talked about and signed copies of her book 'Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument' at Probus Club, Forrest Hotel, Dorridge.
Probus Club, Forrest Hotel, Dorridge

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Maggie Cotton talked about and signed copies of her book 'Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument' at University of the Third Age, Ashstead, Surrey.
University of the Third Age, Ashstead, Surrey

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Maggie Cotton signed copies of her book in Farringdons Record Shop, ICC Mall by Symphony Hall, Birmingham.
Farringdons Record Shop, ICC Mall by Symphony Hall, Birmingham

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Maggie Cotton talked about and signed copies of her book 'Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument' at U3A, Witney, Oxon.
U3A (The University of the Third Age), Witney, Oxon

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Author Maggie Cotton signs copies of her book at a music talk at the Stafford Recorded Music Society.
Stafford Recorded Music Society

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Maggie Cotton signed copies of her book 'Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument'.
The Scarborough Recorded Music Society

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Maggie Cotton signed copies of her book at the 'The Friends of Leamington Art Gallery', Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington.
The Friends of Leamington Art Gallery, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington

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Maggie Cotton signed copies of her book at The Luncheon Club, Ely Hotel, Wolverhampton.
The Luncheon Club, Ely Hotel, Wolverhampton

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Maggie Cotton talked about and signed copies of her book 'Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument' at the Stone Recorded Music Society (Staffs).
Stone Recorded Music Society (Staffs)

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Maggie Cotton opened the Birmingham Society of Arts Exhibition, talked about her book, her time in the CBSO and signed copies of 'Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument.'
Birmingham Society of Arts Exhibition

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Maggie Cotton signed copies and talked about her book at the Holiday Inn, Solihull (The Saga Christmas Music Holiday Group).
Holiday Inn, Solihull (The Saga Christmas Music Holiday Group)

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Author Maggie Cotton signing copies of he book at Stratford-on-Avon University.
Stratford-on-Avon University

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Maggie Cotton signing copies at Torbay Recorded Music Society.
Torbay Recorded Music Society

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Maggie Cotton signed copies of her book at the U3A (The University of the Third Age), Solihull.
U3A (The University of the Third Age), Solihull

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Maggie Cotton signed copies and talked about her book at the Association of Doctors' Wives, Birmingham & District.
Association of Doctors' Wives, Birmingham & District

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Maggie Cotton signed copies of her book 'Wrong Sex Wrong Instrument' at The Women's Institute, Solihull.
The Women's Institute, Solihull

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Maggie Cotton talked about and signed copies of her book 'Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument' at The Women's Institute, The Masonic Hall, Bromsgrove.
The Women's Institute, The Masonic Hall, Bromsgrove

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Maggie Cotton talked about and signed copies of her book 'Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument' at Ripley Recorded Music Society, Derbyshire.
Ripley Recorded Music Society, Derbyshire

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Maggie Cotton talked about and signed copies of her book 'Wrong Sex, Wrong Instrument' at Wolverhampton Ladies Luncheon Club, Wolverhampton.
Wolverhampton Ladies Luncheon Club, Wolverhampton

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Maggie Cotton signed copies of her book at the 'Birmingham Conservatoire'.
Birmingham Conservatoire

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Maggie Cotton signed copies and talked about her book at Birmingham Sailing Club.
Birmimgham Sailing Club

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Maggie Cotton signed copies of her book in Blackwell's, Edinburgh, during the International Festival 2007.
Blackwell's, Edinburgh

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-- Libraries that stock this book
Birmingham Central Music Library, Birmingham
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Sutton Coldfield Music Library, Birmingham
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The Bodleian Library, Oxford
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The Library of Trinity College, Dublin
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The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
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The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
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The University Library, Cambridge
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The British Library, Boston Spa
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