Programme Print.pages - New Music South West

SUNDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER 2015 AT 6PM ST. GEORGE’S, BRISTOL
£3
NEW MUSIC IN THE
SOUTH WEST
PRESENTS
music by
MICHAEL ELLISON
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS
ANDY KEENAN
JEAN SIBELIUS
JULIAN LEEKS
AARON COPLAND
SARA GARRARD
the BRISTOL ENSEMBLE conducted by JOHN PICKARD
Background image courtesy BOSS CONSTRUCTION Nashville, TN
NEW MUSIC IN THE
SOUTH WEST
Sunday, 20th September, 6pm
St. George’s, Bristol
The Bristol Ensemble
conducted by
John Pickard
performing:
Building The City - Julian Leeks
Wells Cathedral - Joshua Greacen
Shatter - Andy Keenan
Andante Festivo - Jean Sibelius
Easter Garden - Sara Garrard
Roche Chapel - Sebrina Lambert-Rose
Danse Macabre - Camille Saint-Saëns
Exploitation - Benedict Richardson
Vincent & Avona - Michael Ellison
Hoe Down - Aaron Copland
The Music
Building The City
Julian Leeks
Starting with its earliest inhabitants scratching at the dirt and rocks in an area we now call
Shirehampton and finishing with the vibrant, thriving city we know today, Building The City
squeezes Bristol’s 60,000 year history into 6 minutes of music.
Of course, there’s little scope for narrative detail within this timescale, but I have tried to illustrate
the creation and growth of something from nothing, and to describe the journey of a community
going through immense suffering along the way (be it the decimation of the plague in the 14th
century or more recent travails such as the Luftwaffe raids of World War II) but repeatedly
overcoming hardship to rebuild and to flourish.
JL
Wells Cathedral
Joshua Greacen
When I decided to write a piece of music inspired by Wells Cathedral, I wanted to capture the
cathedrals magical architecture in my music, the fantastic scissor arches which hang over you,
the many different staircases winding to amazing places. Three of my favourite compositions
came to mind and helped to shape my finished piece.
Ravel’s Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte inspired me to write for French Horn and taught me
that the horn can be a terribly delicate instrument when written correctly. Ravel’s use of varied
orchestral textures is reflected in my removing of some instruments from certain passages and in
my sharing of melodic material between instruments.
Thomas Newman’s Nemo Egg, from the film Finding Nemo is only very short, but its chord
changes, its simple, effective use of the piano, and its repeating themes were were a source of
inspiration. Newman also uses his string section very beautifully, often writing clashing chords
which further inspired me.
Finally, the dramatic, loud sections of Gustav Holst’s Jupiter from The Planets inspired me to
explore the top ranges of the horn. His very full textures and dramatic key changes also had
great influence.
JG
Shatter
Andy Keenan
Titled Shatter because of the way that every part emanates from a single melodic idea, literally
as if it had been dropped and shattered into many pieces. It started out life as a piece for Bass
Clarinet and Piano, for which there is an alternative (albeit rather virtuosic) version.
AK
Andante Festivo
Jean Sibelius
Written in 1922 for string quartet when the composer was at the height of his powers, this short
piece is rather at odds with the large scale symphonic works of the period. In 1938, nine years
after he had last published any music, Sibelius reworked the piece for string orchestra and
timpani and on new year’s day the following year he conducted it for an international radio
broadcast. Now available on cd, this rather melancholy performance is the only known recording
of Sibelius conducting his own music.
Easter Garden
Sara Garrard
Easter Garden is a small and intensely beautiful garden on a hill in the middle of a
neighbourhood, maintained by the community and open to the public. It has also had a dramatic
history, its continued existence threatened (sometimes physically, with broken walls and a
bulldozer) on several occasions by controversial development plans. The story of the struggles
and ultimate success in saving the garden was told to me by the Friends of Easter Garden with
wonderful vigour and humour. The turbulent side of the garden's history is alluded to in the
middle section of my piece. The outer sections reflect the Garden as it exists now and as I
experienced it first: suddenly tranquil and brilliant with summer colours—that, and the dedication
and camaraderie of its Friends.
SG
You can find out more about Easter Garden at the website: http://eastergarden.moonfruit.com
Roche Chapel
Sebrina Lambert-Rose
Roche Rock, in Cornwall is a rocky outcrop about 20 metres high on the northern side of the St
Austell Moor. On top of the Rock is a ruined chapel (dedicated to St Michael). The precise
purpose of the building is unknown but folklore suggests it is haunted by the ghost of a
magistrate called Jan Treneagle.
Roche Chapel appealed to me because it is eerie yet beautiful, perched on top of the rock in the
middle of the moor. I used a variety of techniques and harmonies to depict its desolate character,
including artificial harmonics, modes (such as the Misheberakh and Dorian modes) and a long
sustained pedal on the piano to create an echoing effect. The sul ponticello and tremelo effects
are used to create the sound of the wind that you might hear in such an exposed place!
SLR
Danse Macabre
Camille Saint-Saëns arr. Iain Farrington
Saint-Saëns composed his orchestral tone poem Danse macabre, Op. 40, in 1874. At the
opening, twelve bell chimes are heard striking midnight, leading to the appearance of ‘Death’
playing his violin. The violin’s tuning is harshly dissonant, sounding a tritone that symbolises the
Devil. ‘Death’ summons the skeletons from their graves to join in a ghoulish dance, a perverse
waltz that is seductive, passionate and menacing. A full working of the various themes leads to a
wild and frantic climax that is brutally cut short by the sound of a cockerel’s crow, signalling dawn.
The dance is over and the skeletons quickly return to their graves. Saint-Saëns later quoted
several themes from the piece in his Le Carnaval des Animaux from 1886, notably in the
movement depicting Fossils.
This chamber arrangement combines the original orchestral score with details from composer’s
own arrangement for two pianos.
IF
Exploitation
Benedict Richardson
This is written to convey the chaos of the Industrial Revolution. Much like the revolution itself, an
idea is taken and constantly reworked. As such, whilst appearing similar in sections, the piece
contains some drastic evolutions and changes. Written for solo piano, the prelude is
monothematic and whilst sounding dissonant can also convey a sense of marvel.
BR
Vincent & Avona
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
Michael Ellison
Prelude: Twilight
Interlude (Clouds and Climbs)
Vincent and Cadmus
Granite (Sandstone and Limestone)
Interlude II-Obscura
Postlude: Dawn
This composition, inspired by the Avon Gorge, takes several images of the gorge that, taken in
sequence, first descend into the gorge and its (pre-)history, and then, in a reverse process not
dissimilar to the functioning principles of the famous camera obscura atop its cliffs--reascends
into the present.
The piece takes its title in reference to the medieval legend about the formation of the gorge, and
the two giants, Cadmus and Vincent, whose rivalry to win the love of Avona produced the
geological formations we know between here and the Bristol channel. Throughout the work,
images of red and lime, dark and light, of rock and living matter, stasis and motion, deflect off of
one another, interacting to inform the overt transformation of these pictorial images into musical
ones.
The piece begins in the twilight air, as were, over the Avon (Prelude: Twilight’), hanging, and then
floats down into the gorge (Clouds and Climbs) in a chordal sequence comprised entirely of
The piece begins in the twilight air, as were, over the Avon (Prelude: Twilight’), hanging, and then
floats down into the gorge (Clouds and Climbs) in a chordal sequence comprised entirely of
impersonal, expanding intervals. The central section (‘Granite’), with its massive chords and
constant metric shifting, depicts the limestone rock over red sandstone and its upheaval (‘upfold’)
that set the stage for the River Avon’s carving through it before the end of the last ice age.
The idea of these elements colliding and clashing together over millennia brought to mind words
of proto avant-garde visionary Edgard Varése, who envisioned ‘sound masses’ for Modern music
that would ‘collide and intersect with one another,’ as much as did Vincent and Cadmus in their
fateful agonistic competition. About halfway through ‘Granite’, begins the homage to the camera
obscura. Aside from the miracle of image reproduction, perhaps the obvious characteristic of the
camera obscura, in its reflection off a mirror through a hole in the wall into a dark box—is simply
that it turns all the outside images upside down. Accordingly, the rest of the piece is in reverse, as
it were, first changing the direction of the sound masses (Interlude II) and then dissolving back up
into the sky in the opposite direction from which it came (Dawn), looking back down over the
Avon. Only one very brief section of the work stands outside this process, which is the very short
romp depicting the two giants jostling for Avona’s love--moving clumsily and heavily--but also
mightily and with surprising speed, as only giants can.
ME
Hoe Down
Aaron Copland arr. Julian Leeks
Composed in 1942 as the final section of Rodeo, a ballet commissioned by choreographer Agnes
de Mille, Hoe-Down illustrates the composer’s characteristic use of folk melodies. It quotes the
Scottish dance McLeod’s Reel and the Irish theme Gilderoy, but its most significant borrowing is
from Bonaparte’s Retreat a fiddle tune, of probable Irish origin, which is reproduced in its entirety
and provides Hoe-Down’s main theme.
Originally a slower piece describing a retreat, seen from the mournful perspective of Napoleon’s
army, Bonaparte’s Retreat was transformed into a rousing dance by fiddle player William H Stepp
to whom we probably owe as much as we do to Copland for this rousing entertainment.
JL
The Composers
Julian Leeks
Julian began his musical life as a songwriter, guitarist and singer with various Cheltenham-based
rock bands before turning to a more formal study of music in his 20s. He later took an MA and
PhD in Musical Composition at Bristol University, under the supervision of Prof. John Pickard.
Julian is increasingly becoming interested in the correlation between music and art, and recently
enjoyed working on a project with artist Fiona Robinson. Future plans include further
collaborations with Fiona and a project with Turner Prize winning artist Martin Creed. He is also
developing a theatre project for Junction Theatre, Yorkshire.
His compositional style reflects his broad musical interests, which extend from the contemporary
avant-garde back to renaissance polyphony. World music and even the rock music of his early
years occasionally exert their influence.
Julian started NMSW in 2012 and is currently its director
Joshua Greacen
Joshua is one of the shortlisted composers from the 2015 NMSW Young Composers’ Prize and
attends Prior Park school.
Andy Keenan
Born in Bristol, Andy studied at the Royal Academy of Music. At an early point he demonstrated
an aptitude not just for playing modern music as a Clarinettist and Saxophonist, but also as a
composer and orchestrator. This lead him to work closely with Michael Nyman as his score editor
and orchestrator on many projects from film to concert music. He has orchestrated and edited a
number of Operas, Ballets and concert works including for the Royal Ballet, Jonathan Watkins,
Boosey, Musicsales/ Chester Music, Karl Jenkins, Jocelyn Pook, Mark Anthony Turnage and
Steve Martland.
Andy has performed and directed music for theatre at The Royal Shakespeare Company, The
Shakespeare Globe and the National Theatre in London as well as for the Shobanah Jeyasingh
Dance Company and the Barbican Theatre. He has also orchestrated projects for the BBC
Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, London Symphony
(+conductor).
As a producer he works with contemporary musicians in classical, jazz and electronic music.
As a composer he has written a number of concert works for small ensembles, Wind Orchestra
and symphony orchestra as well as films. Andy lives in Bath.
Jean Sibelius
It seems extraordinary to think that Sibelius was born into the world of Berlioz and Rossini and
died, departing the world of Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry. The distance the world travelled
between his birth in 1865 and his death, on this day in 1957, seems almost too great to be
encompassed by one life.
In his 91 years Sibelius had the opportunity to understand, perhaps more than any composer, the
false identities of popularity and fashion. As a symbol of Finnish nationalism his fame reached far
beyond the world of classical music and made him his country’s most celebrated citizen. For
much of his life his music retained a popularity that most 20th century composers could only
dream of. Yet, to the pioneers of 20th century musical modernism he was, to borrow the title of
the pamphlet by René Leibowitz, Sibelius: The Worst Composer in the World.
The contradiction between the public fêting and the critical disdain was mirrored by the
composer’s own reflections on his worth. At times he felt touched by god, at others he despaired
at his “Isolation and loneliness” and his “rock-bottom” prestige. It’s hard to imagine that this didn’t,
at least to some degree, contribute to the creative stagnation that characterised the last 30 years
of his life.
Today one wonders what Sibelius would have made of the new-music leading lights who now cite
him as a major influence, a diverse list of composers that includes Tristan Murail, John Adams,
Per Nørgård and Brian Ferneyhough. But ultimately, Sibelius’ work serves as a conclusive
endorsement of what Milan Kundera calls “antimodern modernism” and as an invitation for all
creative artists to tread their own path, independent of any prevailing orthodoxy.
Sara Garrard
Sara is currently a postgraduate student in composition at the University of Bristol. She writes
instrumental and choral music and is interested in the relationships between words and music.
She has composed scores for theatre and film, including Kingsmeadow (2011), broadcast on
Channel 4, and is musical director and accompanist with improvised theatre company Degrees of
Error.
Sebrina Lambert-Rose
Sebrina is the second of the shortlisted composers from the 2015 NMSW Young Composers’
Prize and attends King Edward’s School.
Camille Saint-Saëns
Born October 9, 1835 Camille Saint-Saëns studied piano from the age of three and at the age of
ten, performed his first recital of works by Mozart and Beethoven, establishing himself as a child
prodigy. In school he went on to develop interests in astronomy, archaeology, and philosophy and
he began to write his own compositions. Enrolling in the Paris Conservatoire in 1848, Camille
initially studied organ and, after winning the premier prix for organ in 1851, began lessons in
composition and orchestration.
In 1853 he became the organist at the church of St. Merry, where he was able to perform some
of his own works. His admirers included Franz Liszt, who was very much impressed by the talent
he saw at a St. Merry performance. From 1861-1865, Saint-Saëns was appointed to his only
professional teaching position at Ecole Niedermeyer where his students included Fauré,
Messager, and Gigout.
In 1886, the year in which he wrote the famous Carnival of the Animals, he left his position as
one of the founders of the Société Nationale de Musique when the committee sought to endorse
performances of non-French composers. Ironically, his popularity in France later declined but he
remained a significant figure in America and England, which he visited often to give lectures and
performances throughout the early 20th century.
Benedict Richardson
The third of the shortlisted composers from the 2015 NMSW Young Composers’ Prize and
attends Kingswood School.
Michael Ellison
Having worked out of the collision of cultures that is Istanbul for over ten years, Michael Ellison’s
composition explores integration of disparate traditions and sonic experimentations in music into
meaningful new forms.
He has been commissioned by Radio France (Vision of Black Elk, 2015), the BBC ‘Turkish’
Concerto K. 219, for Turkish instruments, cello and orchestra (2008), the Istanbul Music Festival,
the ERC, and numerous other festivals and ensembles.
Michael’s first opera Say I Am You-Mevlana (2012) premiered in 2012 to critical acclaim at both
the 40th Istanbul Music Festival, and Rotterdam Operadagen, with Alexandra Ivanoff (Today’s
Zaman, Istanbul) declaring ‘the effect of Ellison’s remarkable instrumental textures and
occasional choral moments bordered on the supernatural’.
Two new chamber multimedia musical theatre works, on texts of renowned Turkish/Kurdish
novelist Yasar Kemal, will premiere on the Istanbul Music Festival in 2016 and 2019.
Other notable commissions and awards have included String Quartet #3 for the Fry Street
Quartet (2014), Kubla Khan (2011), the Nova Chamber Music Series, Arizona Friends of
Chamber Music and Copland House (2006), New York Youth Symphony (1995), National
Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Beebe Foundation (New England Conservatory), the Ojai
Festival, the Barlow Endowment, ASCAP, ARIT and Fulbright Foundation grants and a University
of Bristol Rising Star Award (2012).
Michael is co-founder and co-Director of Istanbul’s award-winning Hezarfen Ensemble and is a
Lecturer in Music at the University of Bristol.
Aaron Copland
Like Sibelius, Copland wrestled with the notion of what it meant to be a composer in the 20th
century. Treading a path familiar to American composers from Walter Piston to Philip Glass, he
studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, returning to New York in 1924 with the intention of
becoming, specifically, an American composer.
He explored a number different styles from the neo-classicism and jazz evident in his 1926 Piano
Concerto to the stark and dissonant modernism of his 1930s piece Piano Variations. But
Copland’s transformation into the composer we recognise today began in the early 1930s with a
period spent in Mexico. Influenced by the “art for the masses” philosophy of the National
Revolutionary Party and the modal folk melodies of composer Carlos Chávez, Copland
composed El Salón México, a work filled with exuberant Mexican melodies and rhythms.
This serious treatment of popular material became central to much of his subsequent work,
particularly the ballets Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942) and Appalachian Spring (1944), pieces
which successfully established his sought after American sound.
During his career. Copland adopted a number of different guises: the public composer of Fanfare
for the Common Man (1942), the soundtrack composer (from 1939’s Of Mice and Men to
Something Wild in 1961) and, in his later years, the composer of more rarefied chamber works.
The Performers
Roger Huckle - violin
Roger Huckle has been the inspiration and guide for Bristol Ensemble - Bristol's professional
chamber orchestra, and a cherished musicians' collective of exceptional standard - since its
foundation in 1994.
Born in Bristol, Roger studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire and with Frederick Grinke, was a
member of Norway's Bergen Philharmonic, and now performs with leading UK orchestras including co-leading the London Concertante and Opera Box Orchestra.
Roger appreciates Bristol Ensemble players' musical hunger and real commitment to the group's
performances. He always aims for heart-felt music making, and fondly recalls the transcendent
spirituality of a 2004 Emerald Messiah.
Although his favourite journey is Bergen to Oslo by road, he loves Bristol's Downs, and describes
the tip of Worms Head at Rhossili in Gower as his favourite place in the world.
Rachel Gough - violin
Following a music degree from the University of East Anglia, Rachel Gough studied with Frances
Mason at the Royal College of Music for an MMus Degree in Advanced Performance. She is in
demand across the region as a soloist, an orchestral performer and a chamber musician. As half
of the highly successful Gough Duo (with her husband, organist Rupert) she he has made
numerous recordings and has toured regularly across the United States and in Europe. Their disc
of the complete works for violin and organ of Rheinberger was released (on the Molltertz label) in
2010, and a new recording of works written specially for them by American composer Carson
Cooman was released by Naxos.
Bernard Kane - viola
Cardiff violist and composer Bernard holds degrees from the University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, Canada (Doctor of Musical Arts), Yale University (Master of Music) and the Royal
College of Music, London (B. Mus. Honours).
He has worked with the orchestras of the English and Welsh National Operas, the Vancouver
Symphony Orchestra, the Bristol Ensemble, the Pacific Baroque Orchestra and the Quincy Jones
Orchestra. A keen chamber musician, he has played in master classes with the Tokyo, Colorado
and Arditti string quartets; he has also taken part at the Academy of the Verbier Music Festival in
Switzerland. He founded the Cardiff based chamber ensemble Chameleon Cymru in 2000 and is
the violist in the Hillman Quartet.
In addition to performing, Bernard has enjoyed narrating with the Vancouver Symphony
Orchestra and at the Norfolk Chamber Music festival. His performance of Dylan Thomas' A
Child's Christmas in Wales was broadcast nationwide throughout Canada on Christmas Day,
2005
Richard Phillips - cello
Richard is a versatile performer, at home in a diverse variety of styles. He has recorded with
Bristol Ensemble, Orchestra of the Swan, BBC, as well as Bastille and the Manic Street
Preachers. He has also performed on Radio 1’s Live Lounge and BBC Radio 3 as a soloist.
Tours with Heritage Orchestra and Hofesh Shechter contemporary dance company have taken in
major venues across the UK and Europe.
Cellist with Iyatra Quartet and Dr K Sextet, the latter recently aired on BBC Radio 3's Late
Junction with a recording of Joseph Schwanter's 'Music of Amber'. Also performed at HIFA,
Zimbabwe, May 2012.
Jub Davis - bass
Jub's career has covered a wide range of musical styles. He's worked in avant-garde theatre with
Station House Opera, been a member the Indie pop group The Band of Holy Joy, as well as
working with more conventional groups like English National Opera, London Contemporary
Dance Theatre and the London Chamber Orchestra.
He co-founded the prize winning Kreisler String Orchestra which went on to win the 1986
Jeunesses Musicales Competition in Belgrade. Jub has been a longstanding member of the well
known Carnival Band whose unintentional aim has been to subvert the notion of authentic
performance when it comes to their repertoire of Medieval, Renaissance, folk/world music, music
hall, bluegrass, cajun and soul music. He can often be seen playing and singing with them and
their long-time collaborator Maddy Prior.
Over the years he has worked with many notable artists including Youssou N'Dour, Tanita
Tikaram, Abdullah Ibrahim, Brian Eno, Sting, Joss Pook, DJ Krust, Zero 7,the Brodsky and Duke
string quartets. He gets a great deal of pleasure playing small ensemble works with the
Adderbury Ensemble and the Bristol Ensemble, with which he has recently been featured as a
soloist in performances of Bottesini's Grand Duo for Violin, Bass and orchestra. He has taken up
the challenge of contemporary music with groups such as Opus 20, Lontano and Ixion. However,
to take time out he really enjoys a good forty-mile bike ride!
Roger Armstrong - flute
Roger was born in Northern Ireland and emigrated to Australia at the age of 11. He began his
flute studies at 15, and after graduating from the Sydney Conservatoire of Music with first class
honours spent two years freelancing in Sydney before joining the West Australian Symphony
Orchestra in 1971. Shortly after returning to Britain, he took up the post of sub-principal flute with
the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra in 1974, a position he held until 1991.
Roger now pursues a varied freelance career, both as a performer and as a teacher. He is
principal flute with the National Chamber Orchestra of Wales and teaches at Cardiff University
and the Welsh College of Music and Drama. He enjoys musical challenges which are 'off the
beaten track'. He has built his own harpsichord, and is currently engaged in a study of music by
an autistic composer.
Roger plays a wooden Powell flute made in 1998.
David Pagett - clarinet
David studied clarinet at the Royal Northern College of Music with Sidney Fell and Janet Hilton.
He has worked extensively throughout the UK with some of the countries leading orchestras
including the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the BBC
National Orchestra of Wales. As well as working as an orchestral musician David has played in
West End Productions of Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Cats, 42nd Street and West
Side Story. He is currently working in and around Bristol combining a busy teaching and
performing schedule.
Mark Kane - French Horn
Mark's interest in music began at an early age having spent his childhood in a musical
household, his mother regularly playing piano at home and his father being principal horn in the
Bournemouth Sinfonietta. At the age of nine Mark joined the Wessex Youth Orchestra in Poole
where he continued to play until taking up a scholarship to Royal College of Music London in
1989.
Mark also gained valuable musical experience as a member of the National Youth Orchestra of
Great Britain. As well as performing concerts Mark also enjoys composing and has written
several chamber pieces and orchestral works.
Gavin Wells - Trumpet
Gavin Wells was born in London, but studied trumpet performance in the USA at the University of
Northern Colorado under William Pfund. He later received his M.Mus degree from the Florida
State University, where he was also a trumpet teacher. In the USA he was a member of the
Rocky Mountain Brass Quintet, the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, and the Disneyland Show
band.
In 1986 he won the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition held in London. Settling in
Gloucestershire in 1989 he now teaches Brass and enjoys a busy freelance career, performing
regularly with the Bath Philharmonia, the West of England Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bristol
Ensemble, the Regency Sinfonia, and the Premiere Brass Quintet. He regularly records for BBC
television and radio and has recently performed with the London Symphony Orchestra and the
Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
Gavin has given recitals in Gloucester Cathedral and Bath Abbey with organists David Briggs
and Peter King, and as part of the Guiting Festival in 1997, and the Three Choirs Festival in
1998. As a soloist he has performed the concertos of Bach, Vivaldi, Haydn, Hummel, Neruda,
Tomasi, Arutunian, Copland's Quiet City, and Shostakovich's Concerto for Piano, Trumpet, and
Strings. He has recorded concertos by Telemann, Mudge, and Vivaldi with the Bristol Ensemble.
Harriet Riley - Percussion
Originally from Devon, Harriet studied Orchestral Percussion at The Royal Welsh College of
Music and Drama. She performs in a diverse range of styles from world music and orchestral, to
jazz-funk (with the band Tezeta) and contemporary (as half of the percussion duo Malleticious).
Harriet has worked in a number of dance and theatre projects playing solo percussion, and won
the Senior Soloist prize for Music in the Vale 2012 and the McGrenery chamber music prize
2014. Since graduating a year ago, she has been working as a freelance musician in Bristol. Paul Israel - Percussion
Following his studies at the University of Bristol (2011) and Royal Welsh College of Music &
Drama (2013), Paul has toured extensively as a recitalist and chamber musician. Performing
countless recitals in the past three years, Paul has also worked with pianists including Paul
Lewis, John Lill, Piers Lane, Leslie Howard, Louis Lortie, and with musicians of the Berlin
Philharmonic. Paul has visited the Royal Opera House, following success in the prestigious
Royal Ballet Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, with an outstanding performance of Liszt’s
Piano Sonata in B Minor. A winner of numerous awards in music, Paul is currently preparing for
a series of international piano competitions in 2016-17.
Thanks to Aurora De Santis whose article on Saint-Saëns was abridged for this programme and to
Iain Farrington for his programme note (also abridged) for Danse Macabre.
The biographies of Sibelius and Copland, and the programme notes for their respective pieces,
were written by Julian Leeks.
NMSW
NEW MUSIC IN THE SOUTH WEST (NMSW) is a Bristol based
non-profit organisation running a music and education project for the
south-west of England. We promote classical music as a vital, living art
form and we play a crucial role in supporting the development of the region’s best young
musicians through talks, composition workshops and our annual composition competition.
Education
In 2016 we will be holding composition workshops at locations across the South West. These will
give 90 talented young composers the opportunity to have their music played and recorded by
professional performers from the Bristol Ensemble, while the shortlisted pieces from the 2016
NMSW Young Composers’ Prize will be given their world premières by the renowned Kokoro
ensemble at the NMSW season finale concert here at St. George’s, Bristol.
Concerts
Our imaginatively programmed concerts seek to introduce people of all ages and backgrounds to
the incredible variety of exciting new music being written today. We always aim to present
passionate performances of great music and we are proud to work with the best performers that
the region has to offer including Kokoro, the Bristol Ensemble and numerous ad hoc groups of
contemporary music specialists.
Commissioning
The growing list of composers who have been commissioned by NMSW ranges from promising
young or early career composers through to those of international repute. Including Anna
Meredith, John Pickard, Litha Efthymiou, Geoff Poole, Sara Garrard and many others.
Partners
We are very pleased to be able to include among our partners in the project St. George’s,
Hauser & Wirth, Kokoro Ensemble and Bristol University.
For further in formation on our educational events, becoming an NMSW friend or for any other
enquiry please email [email protected].
NMSW would not be possible without generous support from:
and our friends:
Dr John Manley
Mr Edward Mayes
Mr Vincent Young
Mr John-Lloyd Hagger
Mrs Frances Clayton
Mr Rob Hicks
Dr Reggie Sangha
Dr Shona Scofield
Mrs Louise Tovey
Mr Peter Manson