Gold from the Stone wins JAM President’s Commission
I was delighted that my piece for the JAM Voces8 Masterclass, ‘Gold from the Stone’, received its premiere as part of the culmination concert at St Bride’s, Fleet Street in October. It was a wonderful concert, performed by the brilliant Voces8 Scholars, whose voices were just sublime in those acoustics. St Brides is a beautiful venue, and I loved hearing 6 premieres (by Christopher Churcher, Henrik Dahlgren, George Parris, Jack Ledger-Dowse and Chris Williamson), alongside earlier works by Tallis, Gibbons, Byrd.
It was a fantastic surprise at the end of the concert to be awarded, jointly with Christopher Churcher, the President’s Commission, which means I will be composing a new work for the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College for JAM’s ‘Music of our Time’ concert in March 2023.
Thank you so much to Voces8 Scholars, Voces8, JAM and Paul Mealor, and to Lemn Sissay for allowing me to set his poem Gold from the Stone.
Voces8 concert, St Brides Church
Tickets are now available for the Voces8 Foundation concert, in association with John Armitage Trust, featuring 6 premieres, including my ‘Gold from the Stone‘.
This concert is the culmination of the Jam on the Marsh Masterclass, with Voces8 and Paul Mealor, in which drafts of pieces we sent were workshopped and then developed. I’m very much looking forward to hearing Voces8 Scholars perform the pieces, alongside Byrd and Tallis, on October 12. For my composition I have used words from Lemn Sissay’s poem Gold from the Stone.
More information on the Jam website: jamconcert.org
Britten Sinfonia Opus 1 Scheme
In the summer I was delighted to be selected to Britten Sinfonia’s brilliant Opus 1 scheme, for emerging composers. There are eight composers and two trio combinations — mine is the very unusual grouping of French horn, violin and percussion. It’s been wonderful to work with such wonderful musicians, trying out ideas in two workshops, with help from mentors Dani Howard and Raymond Yui. There finished pieces will be recorded in early October in Stapleford Granary.
Here is a picture of the second workshop, in the beautiful Craxton Studios, with the other trio of harp, viola and flute (Sarah O’Flynn, Bridget Carey and Tomos Xerri. 
St Magnus Festival returns for three weeks
There’s another chance to watch the beautiful films made for St Magnus International Festival. I thought they were the best examples of online concerts I’d seen during the pandemic period, as you really get a feel of the venue and of Orkney!
The tickets per concert are now only £2.50 and you can watch my string trio Green Deva, which is included in the Hebrides Ensemble’s performance at St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney.
New score for short documentary, screening now
I really enjoyed working with Ikram Ahmed recently on her short documentary, Barry the Beekeeper, for Together TV. It’s now available to watch on ITV Hub.
Music played on Mark Kermode’s International Women’s Day film music show.
Night and Day short film
I have just completed the music for Tim Fywell’s short film, Night and Day, a story of two sisters and their very different experiences of the first Lockdown of Covid-19.
It was so wonderful to be able to attend the mix at The Farm, in person! Walking into a very quiet Soho felt like a dream and to sit in the same room as people I’d been working with was a treat.
The film is looking and sounding great and I’m looking forward to sharing news to come.