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 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.