In the Alps

I had blast directing the Hartley Loop Orchestra in a major University of Southampton Music Department project at Turner Sims, IN THE ALPS. We performed Richard Ayres’ masterpiece No 42. (In the Alps: an animated concert) featuring soprano Juliet Fraser (wearing an amazing garment made by students at Winchester School of Art), as well as Carnival of the Animals with soloists David Owen Norris and Verity Brooks and a brand new work, Shadows, by Zoe Sones. Was fantastic to work so closely with Southampton students and colleagues on the project and Juliet was AMAZING. Here are some pics by the massively talented Ash Sealy and a short audio excerpt.

eavesdropping.london · Juliet Fraser sings Richard Ayres ‘No. 42 — In the Alps’ (extract)

Regeneration

Really enjoyed conducting the premiere of Hollie Harding’s Regeneration with the PLAYLIST Collective. Here’s a nice vid…

Birth of the Cool

I had so much fun playing tracks from ‘Birth of the Cool’ with the PLAYLIST Collective directed by Dan Mar-Molinero back in June. Here’s a video of ‘Israel’:

Regeneration

I’m super looking forward to conducting Hollie Harding‘s new PLAYLIST commission Regeneration on 1 November at God’s House Tower in Southampton. We will also perform amazing Villa Lobos’ Choros No. 7…

Drip Feed Video

Here’s a video of the premiere of Drip Feed for solo harpsichord featuring the fantastic Jane Chapman:

The Driver

Terrific workshop last week with Riot Ensemble for my collaboration with poet Luke Wright. Exciting to be putting stuff together and making plans for a tour, hopefully in 2021.

Here’s a taster of the poetry:

Is this how it ends for all of us?
love born at festivals
in chemicals and poetry
love that lived beyond our bodies
love that conquered motorways and calendars
love that conquered half of England
is this how it ends?

from The Driver, by Luke Wright

More info and some taster audio on the Riot Ensemble website: http://riotensemble.com/the-driver/

Cohan Collective

I had a fantastic week last week taking part in the Development week of the Cohan Collective. I was collaborating with choreographer Josh Ben-Tovim and composer Hollie Harding, creating a new 15-minute piece ‘Enemy of the Stars’. Looking forward to seeing how the project develops…

Liz Kenny CD

There have been a bunch of good reviews for Liz Kenny’s new Linn release ‘Ars Longa’ which includes my Extending from the inside. She’s also been performing the piece all over the place including at Aldeburgh Festival and in Cleveland. You can read some of the comments about my piece on my press page.

PLAYLIST @ Baffi

I’m excited to have a new piece, Drip Feed, premiered by the amazing harpsichordist Jane Chapman on 11 June at Baffi Portswood as part of PLAYLIST. I will also be playing piano in the PLAYLIST Collective, in which we will perform tracks from Miles Davis’ seminal album ‘Birth of the Cool’.

‘Changing Up +’ Video

Video now online of the premiere of my Changing Up + for solo percussionist and large ensemble from the recent SHIFTS project at Turner Sims. Joley Cragg totally nailed the percussion as did the HARTLEY Loop Orchestra, which features students and staff from the University of Southampton Music Department.