10th October 2014
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Finally finished my new carol, Sing We to this Merry Company for St. James’s Church, Sussex Gardens! Much looking forward to its first performance on 21st December. |
9th October 2014
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October CD releases. |
25th September 2014
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My reflections on the sad loss of Christopher Hogwood. |
19th September 2014
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October Festivals. |
13th September 2014
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September CD roundup. |
31st August 2014
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Read my take on the Sound and Music Commissioning Report. Is it really such bad news? |
22nd August 2014
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September Concerts. |
13th August2014
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August CD releases. |
30th July 2014
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Read my interview with to Kevin Stalheim, Artistic Director of Present Music, one of the leading contemporary music ensembles in the U.S. with a reputation for creating provocative experiences through performance, education and commissioning. |
18th July 2014
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Read my roundup of summer festivals. |
10th July 2014
| My thoughts on the appointment of Judith Weir as Master of the Queen’s Music and July’s CD roundup. |
30th June 2014
| Interview with Felix Meyer, Director of the Paul Sacher Stiftung, Basel. Established by conductor and patron Paul Sacher, the Foundation is one of the most important archives of twentieth and twenty-first century composers’ manuscript material. |
19th June 2014
| July Festivals Roundup. |
7th June 2014
| June CD Releases. |
29th May 2014
| Three June Festivals. |
20th May 2014
| CD of the Month: Guto Puw Reservoirs. |
11th May 2014
| >reinhören. Read about my encounter with this extraordinary concert venue. |
1st May 2014
| May Concert Roundup. |
24th April 2014
| Read my interview with John Palmer, a composer of both acoustic and electroacoustic music whose wide influences include Jungian psychology, Buddhism and mythology. |
12th April 2014
| Penderecki Works and April CD Roundup. |
28th March 2014
| April Concert Highlights. |
12th March 2014
| NMC 25th birthday and March CD releases. |
26th February 2014
| March Concert Diary. |
19th February 2014
| February CD Roundup. |
12th February 2014
| Read my interview with Alasdair Nicolson, Artistic Director of the St. Magnus International Festival. |
31st January 2014
| February contemporary music concert roundup. |
26th January 2014
| Read my review of Robert Fokkens new CD, Tracing Lines. |
23rd January 2014
| Remembering Claudio Abbado, 1933-2014. Blog post at Composition Today. |
14th January 2014
| How widely performed is contemporary classical music? Read my analysis here. |
1st January 2014
| Happy New Year! My thoughts on New Year resolutions and a preview of what we can expect in 2014. |
21 December 2013
| January Concert Highlights. Start planning your New Year concert-going. |
11th December 2013
| December CD roundup, leading with NMC’s Digital Discoveries project. |
27th November 2013
| December concert diary. My roundup of the month’s best contemporary music concerts and events. |
20th November 2013
| Review of Walden Chamber Players’ new CD of music by Gerhard Schedl, who died tragically aged just 43. Followed by roundup of the rest of the month’s CD releases. |
13th November 2013
| Read my obituary of John Tavener, who died yesterday aged 69. |
10th November 2013
| My article on composition procedures in Henri Dutilleux’s Symphony No. 2, written with Mexican composer Mauricio Beltran, now available in Tempo music journal. |
29th October 2013
| November contemporary music concert diary. |
22nd October 2013
| October contemporary music CD releases. |
15th October 2013
| My review of the Arcomis International Brass Festival, where my Fanfare Variation XVI was premiered. |
30th September 2013
| October Concerts roundup. |
8th September 2013
| Read my roundup of September CD releases. |
| Between the Pages, a new paper on composition process in Henri Dutilleux’s Second Symphony written in collaboration with Mexican colleague Mauricio Beltrán, to be published by Tempo Music Journal in November. |
| Seven More Centenarians: other centenary composers that might also be worth celebrating. |
| Read my roundup of September 2013 Concerts and Festivals. |
| New blog post: August contemporary music CD releases. |
| Read my roundup of August festivals at CompositionToday.com. |
| I have just been commissioned to write a fanfare for the Arcomis International Brass Event, held in Cardiff October 10th-13th, 2013. The festival promises to be an incredible extravaganza of brass music, with such names as Allen Vizzutti, Tine Thing Helseth, Mnozil Brass and Håkan Hardenberger in attendance. More details available here. |
| Various thoughts: the royal baby, July CD roundup, Sound and Music Embedded opportunities and upcoming concerts at the BBC Proms. Read my blog post at compositiontoday.com. |
| Karl Jenkins: Adiemus Colores. Read my CD Review and thoughts about the composer’s music. |
| Ten Summer Festivals to Get the Contemporary Music Blood Pumping. Read my blog post on compositiontoday.com. |
| I will be returning to Basel, Switzerland for the whole of April 2014 to continue my research into the music of Henri Dutilleux, following the award of a grant from the Paul Sacher Foundation. The title of the project will be ‘Composition Procedures in the Music of Henri Dutilleux: The Basel Manuscripts.’ |
| Music in the Cloud: My thoughts on storing your entire CD collection on Apple’s iTunes Match |
| Read my quick roundup of July’s new contemporary music CD releases. |
| As the Dartington International Summer School reaches its sixtieth birthday, read my interview with its Artistic Director, John Woolrich. |
| June contemporary music festivals. My roundup on Composition Today. |
| Read my thoughts on moving to Spain and a roundup of May’s CD releases. |
| Read my roundup of May contemporary music festivals. |
| Marking the Rite. My roundup of April’s new contemporary music recordings. |
| Read my interview with brilliant pianist and champion of contemporary music Anda Anastasescu. |
| ‘Spirit of Youth’. My roundup of April’s contemporary music events and concerts. |
| The Joy of Next, my roundup of March’s new CD releases with a little twist. |
| Read my roundup of March’s Concerts and Festivals on Composition Today |
| Read my review of Kenneth Hesketh’s debut album, Wunderkammer(konzert), just released on NMC. |
| February Concert Listings. Find out what is going on in contemporary music this month in my new post on Composition Today. |
| New arrangements for 8notes.com: Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4, Mozart Magic Flute Overture, Delibes Valse, Satie Le Piccadilly. |
| Did Britten Die from Syphilis? New blog post on Composition Today. |
| New arrangements for 8notes.com: Beethoven Symphony No.1, StraussTritsch-Tratsch Polka, Mozart Confutatis Maledictis. Also a riff lesson for Adele’s Skyfall. |
| Read about my experience of moving to Apple Mac after more than ten years using Windows. A new article on Composition Today. |
| A review of the Evening of Movies and Musicals at Christmas Concert at Usher Hall, Edinburgh, for which I provided several orchestrations. The comments section at the bottom forms an interesting take on how young players are used and abused. |
| Read my preview of what’s in store for contemporary music in 2013 on Composition Today. |
| Record of the Month: A European Odyssey. New post on Composition Today. |
| Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco. Remembering the great musicians we have lost in 2012. New post on Composition Today. |
| Read my review of Richard Barrett’s new CD Dark Matter, as well as a roundup of November’s new contemporary music recordings. |
| Read my guide to self-publishing for contemporary classical composers. |
| Read my interview with brilliant violin duo Retorica, who have just released their debut disk on NMC. |
| Read ‘Fifty Shades of Grim’, my take on EMI’s new EL James themed CD, combined with a roundup of new contemporary music recordings. |
| In October 2011 a Mexican Colleague, Mauricio Beltran Miranda, and I spent several days researching Henri Dutilleux’s Symphony No. 2 at the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel. You can read a little bit more about this in one of my blog posts for Composition Today. The surprisingly results of our research, which included the discovery of a sketch for an entirely different opening to the work, were presented to the Sacher Perspectives International Conference in Cardiff in March 2012. The written paper has now been submitted for publication. |