Two performances of my choral works on the same day on 23 May: Firstly O Euchari for voices & solo violin is being performed at London's Kings Place by Festival Voices and violinist Rakhi Singh, as part of a concert curated by composer Ben Nobuto. It was first performed at the 2024 Aldeburgh Festival with Marian Consort & Daniel Pioro. Tickets...
Craftsmen & Clowns for solo cello will be premiered by Nicolas Altstaedt at L'Auditori in Barcelona on 19 April. In 13 minutes and in three movements, it takes its name from a theory of the makeup of sitcom archetypes – the matriarch, the patriarch, the craftsmen and the clown. He'll premiere it in a wide-ranging programme alongside music by Gabrieli,...
Abide, my piece for young intermediate musicians, is being performed by London Sinfonietta and school-age students from North London Music Hub, at the Sinfonietta's 'Sound Out' event for schools at London's Royal Festival Hall on March 19. Patrick Bailey will be conducting, and has arranged the flexible piece for a large scale ensemble with wind, brass and percussion. It's particularly...
Two pieces of mine for solo string instruments will be premiered this Spring and Summer: ------- Craftsmen & Clowns for solo cello will be premiered by Nicolas Altstaedt at L'Auditori in Barcelona on 19 April 2026, and he will be giving its UK premiere at the Aldeburgh Festival on 16 June. In Aldeburgh he'll be performing it alongside Britten's Cello Sonata and,...
Pieces that Disappear, the portrait disc of my orchestral music released last year on NMC Recordings, has been shortlisted for the Gramophone Classical Music Awards. The disc features four pieces, all performed by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and also features frequent collaborators Anna Dennis and Daniel Pioro: Three Pieces that Disappear – BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins (cond.) Beautiful Caged Thing – BBC Philharmonic...
July saw the premiere of my Monologues for the Curious at the BBC Proms, by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and tenor Allan Clayton, conducted by John Storgårds. It's now available to hear on BBC Sounds by clicking here. You can also hear a little 10-minute interview feature that I recorded for Tom Service's show on Radio 3 – click here...
My String Quartet No. 2 is being given its UK premiere this 6 July at Clare O'Connell's Behind the Mirror concert series in Berkhamsted. The musicians are Clare on cello, with Jonathan Morton (violin), Clio Gould (violin), and Oliver Wilson (viola). They're playing it alongside Debussy's String Quartet – concert details here. Here's the programme note: Friedrich Fröbel’s ‘Gifts’ were sets of wooden educational...
My Black Shuck Lament will be premiered by tenor Allan Clayton and a string quintet from the Dunedin Consort, at the Aldeburgh Festival on 21 June: Black Shuck Lament uses two texts, cut up, re-ordered, and intermingled: firstly, a poem by me made from fragments of the Book of Lamentations – anguished in tone but largely without the religious context. Secondly,...
Scottish Ensemble are touring their 'Concerts for a Summer's Night' programme around six Scottish venues this June, including my Prelude (after Monsieur de Sainte Colombe). Scored for 2 violas, 2 celli and double bass, it's my reworking of a solo viol piece by St Colombe, and was commissioned for the Musikdorf Ernen when I was Composer-in-Residence there in 2022. It has...