The Radio Filharmonisch Orkest will give the Dutch premiere of Sonnet Machine in a concert at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw in June as part of the Holland Festival. The concert will be conducted by Martyn Brabbins, and will focus on the music of George Benjamin (his own Sometime Voices, Dance Figures and his arrangement of Bach’s Canon & Fugue from the Art of Fugue), and will also include Edward Nesbit’s In spite of the mere objectiveness of things.

Sonnet Machine was commissioned by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and premiered by them in 2016.

Other news: I am leading a contemporary composition and performance weekend with Aldeburgh Young Musicians in March – coaching three young composers in developing pieces for an ensemble made of up of AYM musicians. The ensemble will also be learning my Four Perpetual Motions from 2013, with me conducting.

I previously worked with AYM last year, helping run a course inspired by Arabic music with the European-Egyptian Contemporary Music Ensemble.