From today, I am starting a residency hosted by the Britten-Pears Foundation at the former home of Imogen Holst (pictured here with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears) in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. I will be staying in the property, located at Church Walk in the centre of Aldeburgh, for five weeks and will work on two upcoming pieces for 2016 – my new...
I have been commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra to write music for a new radio play by Vivienne Franzmann, and to turn the music into a standalone orchestral work which will be performed by the BBC Philharmonic. Five composer/playwright pairings are being commissioned – myself with Vivienne, Aaron Parker with Francesca Martinez, Nina Whiteman with Esther Wilson,...
The Britten Sinfonia will premiere my new piece for string orchestra, 'My Curves are not Mad', on the 20th March. The piece's title comes from a quote in Henri Matisse's 1947 book Jazz where he asserts that the inventive and organic shapes and curves of his cut-outs are conceived always with reference to plain vertical lines. The piece was commissioned...
I'm delighted to have been commissioned by Aldeburgh Music to write an orchestral song cycle for the 2015 Aldeburgh Festival, to be premiered by soprano Claire Booth with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra conducted by George Benjamin. The programme will also feature Wagner's Siegried Idyll, Benjamin's A Mind of Winter, Boulez's Mémoriale and Ravel's Piano Concerto, featuring festival director Pierre-Laurent Aimard...
I am to be a featured composer at the Soundings 2014 programme of events this October, at London's Austrian Cultural Forum. Curated by the Fidelio Trio's Mary Dullea, Soundings is a platform for contemporary music that brings together composers from the UK and Austria for four days of roundtable talks, workshops and concerts. On Thursday 30th October (7pm), my Enmîmés...
I'm thrilled to be signing with Faber Music as one of their House Composers. They will publish my scores from now on, including my upcoming piece for the strings of the Britten Sinfonia, and will be publishing much of my back catalogue. Pieces available from Faber will include Codex (Homage to Serafini) for symphony orchestra, Four Perpetual Motions for ten...
This Thursday 11 September, violinist Sarah Hill will perform a new piece of mine, entitled Sparking & Slipping, at her final Masters recital at Trinity Laban Conservatoire. The piece is a virtuosic showpiece for violin soloist, accompanied by piano, harp & percussion – the accompagnato ensemble will be comprised of pianist Hannah Ely, harpist Anne Denholm and percussionist Henry Fynn, and...
The London Sinfonietta have made a little portrait film of me after they commissioned Études Nos. 3 & 4 for solo violin, performed by Jonathan Morton last week. Have a look! ...
My new Études Nos. 3 & 4 for solo violin, commissioned by London Sinfonietta as part of their 'Sinfonietta Shorts' series, were premiered on the 23rd July at King's Place's Rotunda Room. The two new études, lasting around five minutes in total, were played wonderfully by the Sinfonietta's principal violinist Jonathan Morton to invited guests at one of the Sinfonietta's...