The University of Manchester chamber orchestra is performing Mozart's first and last symphonies a week tomorrow, and I have written some programme notes, which I thought I'd post up here: Symphony No. 1 In Eb K. 16 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has come to be seen as perhaps the quintessential child composer in the mind of the public. A ready-made case study...
This coming Tuesday, two short studies of mine will be workshopped at Manchester's Martin Harris Centre, by singer Nina Whiteman and flautist Gavin Osborn. These two performers are two thirds of the wonderful Trio Atem, and are successful composers as well. Nina will be singing 'Needles and Butter', a progressive destruction of two alliterative 18th-century nursery rhymes, while Gavin will...
Manchester University Music Society have kindly offered me the opportunity to write a new piece for conducted ensemble, to be premiered on the 5th February 2011 at the Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama. The concert will also feature works by Stravinsky, Milhaud, Varèse and Walton. ...
Vaganza, Manchester University's new music ensemble, will perform my Acheronta Movebo on Friday 26th November at a day of concerts entitled 'Lachenmann at 75: Inward Beauty', celebrating the composer's birthday this year. Scored for violin and ensemble, the solo part was written for Mike Jones who played it at an informal concert in May (you can see a video over...
Back in November, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies was invited to Manchester University by the Music Society to attend a concert by Vaganza as part of the New Music North West festival. Vaganza performed my Moto Perpetuo, and Max gave a Forum afterwards, where he talked about his work with me, fellow composer Professor Philip Grange, and my fellow student Helen...
The Candle is being performed on Tuesday at the RNCM, as part of Sing Ariel: The Music of Alexander Goehr. It's a joint concert between Vaganza, the University of Manchester's new music ensemble, and the RNCM's New Ensemble. Vaganza's Olivia Howie (alto), Olivia Jageurs and Naomi Lewis (harps) and Ali Vennart (viola) will perform my work, and Vaganza will also...
The University of Manchester 3rd-year recitals are this week at the Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama. Olivia Jageurs gives the premiere of Harfenstück this Thursday June 3rd at 17:00 in a programme for harp that also covers Fauré, Bach, Berio and fellow Manchester composer Josh Spear. Then the day after on Friday 4th, Sarah Hill is playing the...
Violinist Michael Jones and an ensemble of eleven University of Manchester students recorded Acheronta Movebo on Wednesday. You can now see a video of the performance, which I was very pleased with: Of course, that video will live in the Video section, and the audio has been put in the composition's page in the Works & Audio section. I've also put...
I'm giving a talk at the University of Manchester on the 13th May about my recent undergraduate dissertation, titled 'This Is Our Music: Black Music & White America'. I'll be briefly outlining aspects of the study, which looks at the evolution of black music – from minstrelsy to free jazz via blues, bebop and rock & roll – against the...