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'suo' at Whiddon Autumn Festival 2024
Performer(s): Corvus Consort; Freddie Crowley (cond.)
Event description
We conclude the festival by bringing together all our resident performers in an enchanting celebration of Folk Song.
Featuring music originating all over the British Isles and beyond, Freddie Crowley will lead Corvus Consort in choral folksong arrangements by Benjamin Britten, Simon Carrington, Harry Baker and Nathan James Dearden (last year's WAF Composer-in-Residence), as well as Gustav Holst's lovely Six Choral Folksongs, Op. 36, in celebration of Holst's 150th year in 2024. The programme will also feature another world premiere from our Composer-in-Residence Sun Keting, written specially for this concert.
Book your ticket now
To join us at Whiddon Autumn Festival, please visit this webpage (link embedded).
'How are you?' with MOSAIC Ensemble
Performer(s): MOSAIC Ensemble
Event description
After three sold-out concerts, MOSAIC are excited to be back for Inventions, a celebration of the next generation of composers and an homage to inspiration. This concert will showcase the works of emerging artists to explore themes of influence and musical connections.
Join us on 14th September 2024 at 7.30pm in the beautiful St George's Church, Bloomsbury, to hear a fusion of contemporary and canonic music.
Tickets will be available on the door but we recommend booking in advance. Doors open at 7pm and seating will be unreserved.
Join us
For more information and to book your tickets now, please visit this dedicated website (link embedded)
'Three Motets' at Presteigne FestivaL
WORLD PREMIERE
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway, Alice Neary (cello), Rupert Gough (conductor.)
More about Three Motets
Visit this dedicated webpage for full information about Three Motets (link embedded).
Book your ticket now
For more information or to book your ticket, please visit this webpage (link embedded)
Featured composer at Presteigne Festival 2024
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway; Rupert Gough (cond.)
Festival overview
The 2024 Presteigne Festival programme offers an opportunity to hear some of Benjamin Britten’s less familiar work, contrasted with music from his contemporaries, his influences and those who, in turn, were influenced by him.
The Festival’s advocacy for new music is greatly in evidence – we will welcome award-winning British composer Richard Blackford as composer-in-residence and include a mini-feature of music by William Mathias.
The music programme includes 12 premieres of new work from an exceptionally diverse cohort of composers – Michael Berkeley, Richard Blackford, Nathan James Dearden, Michael Zev Gordon, James Albany Hoyle, Sarah Frances Jenkins, Tayla-Leigh Payne, Joseph Phibbs, Julian Philips, Lynne Plowman, Lara Poe and James B Wilson.
Extant music from other living composers – Sally Beamish, Matthew Coleridge, Mared Emlyn, Ola Gjeilo, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Gabriel Jackson, David Matthews, Cecilia McDowall, Adrian Sutton, Huw Watkins, Judith Weir and Raymond Yiu – is programmed alongside pieces by J S Bach, Beethoven, Lennox Berkeley, Nadia Boulanger, Lili Boulanger, Bridge, Debussy, Dowland, Martinů, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Sibelius and Walton.
Apart from concert performances, the programme will also include a variety of other events – exhibitions, film, talks and poetry and, in partnership with many local artists and makers, the popular Presteigne ‘Open Studios’ weekend.
The Festival will feature a truly outstanding artist line-up, with performances from the Piatti Quartet, pianists Huw Watkins, Annie Yim and Joseph Tong, Alice Neary (cello), Anne Denholm (harp), Rebecca Bottone (soprano), Rebecca Afonwy-Jones (mezzo-soprano), Sarah Gabriel (narrator), Daniel Shao (flute), Paul Galbraith (guitar), the Choir of Royal Holloway under Rupert Gough and the Presteigne Festival Orchestra and Ensemble conducted by artistic director, George Vass.
Full information coming soon
'Hildegard's jig' at Chamber Music on Valentia
Performer(s): Elisabeth Perry (violin), Carmen Flores (viola)
event description
A highlight every year in the stunning location of one of the Great Lighthouses of Ireland, this is a location unlike any other to experience an interactive morning of music and fun, featuring music by Bach, Shostakovich, and Nathan James Dearden.
join us
For more information and to book your ticket, please visit this website (link embedded)
'(ail-)atgofion' at Eisteddfod 2024
WORLD PREMIERE
Performer(s): Members of Sinfonia Cymru
Event description
The Tlws y Cyfansoddwr [Composer's Trophy] is presented to the most promising composer at the 2024 National Eisteddfod for a chamber ensemble composition using images of Rhondda Cynon and Taf as inspiration.
Following an open call during the Autumn, the adjudication panel selected three composers and music creators to work with mentoring composer John Rea and a quartet of musicians from Sinfonia Cymru to create brand new compositions. Since the beginning of the year, Lowri Mair Jones, Nathan James Dearden and Tomos Williams have been developing and refining their compositions, culminating with the first public performance of the pieces during the ceremony.
More information
For more information about the National Eisteddfod or this event, please visit this website (link embedded).
'messages' at Three Choirs Festival 2024
WORLD PREMIERE
Performer(s): Three Choirs Festival Voices; Philharmonia Orchestra; Geraint Bowen (cond.)
Event description
Exotic romantic fantasy infuses The Cloud Messenger, a rich sung epic inspired by Indian stories and beliefs, performed by the Three Choirs Festival Voices. Holst sets a Sanskrit poem describing how a nature spirit persuades a passing cloud to send a love message to his wife in the distant Himalayas; a remote and colourful paradise is brought to life by the music. In response, Nathan James Dearden’s exciting festival commission creates a series of choral landscapes that respond to, and set, messages from throughout history to future generations. Alongside these works, fluttering wings and scratching feet are heard in Respighi’s The Birds as the composer paints a picture of bird movements and birdsong in lively and extraordinary music.
Nathan James Dearden’s commission supported by the Colwinston Charitable Trust and the Three Choirs Festival Commissioning Circle
This concert will be presented as part of Three Choirs Festival 2024.
Book your ticket now
To find out more information and to book your ticket, please visit this website (link embedded)
Composers in Conversation
Event description
Nathan James Dearden chats with fellow composers whose works are being performed at this year’s festival. Get to know the faces behind the music and learn more about what it’s like to be a composer from the people themselves.
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To find out more information and to book your ticket, please visit this website (link embedded)
'The day following' screening at Musicfest Aberystwyth
This is a cinema screening of a live performance given by UPROAR Wales New Music Ensemble in February 2024.
Event information
Our memories wane over time. Our memories compete with the world around us, scrambling to be remembered. Memories make us smile. Memories make us cry. As soon as they might make us feel joy, they may snatch that away and open up old heartache. Memories enable us to recognise who we are and where we are going. The day following is a work that allows us to reflect on memory, and specifically the memories of those whose communities have been taken from them. The music comes and goes. Snippets of old tunes are heard and buried. Distant hymns and church bells wash over us.
The day following is a sonic landscape for these now distant memories of a lost community in Wales, created by award-winning Welsh composer, Nathan James Dearden, and performed by UPROAR New Music Ensemble. At the centre of the video piece is archival footage of Capel Celyn village and farms of the Tryweryn Valley, first broadcast in 1965, weeks before the flooding of this Welsh-speaking community.
The screening will also feature works by the student composers attending Musicfest Aberystwyth’s summer school. The screening lasts approximately 30-minutes, and will be looped, so audience members can come and go.
Join us
For more information about the event and to join us, please visit this website (link embedded).
'No other haven' with Sinfonia Cymru
Performer(s): Members of Sinfonia Cymru
WORLD PREMIERE
Event description
Cerddwn is a radically different developmental opportunity for composers. Aberystwyth University wants to create a world-leading hub for musical experimentation and innovation in mid-Wales. Working with community orchestra Aberystwyth Philomusica and leading professional orchestra Sinfonia Cymru, composers and mentoring performers will create visionary new works for orchestra. To kickstart this new project four Welsh composers have been commissioned, David John Roche, Nathan James Dearden, Mared Emlyn and Jefferson Lobo.
This concert will be presented as part of Musicfest Aberystwyth 2024.
Book your ticket now
To find out more information and to book your ticket, please visit this website (link embedded)
Study with Nathan at Musicfest Aberystwyth
Musicfest Aberystwyth are excited to bring back our composition course and are equally excited to invite Welsh composer Nathan James Dearden to lead this course. The aim of this 7-day course is to provide music creators with a host of opportunities that can kickstart the next stage of their career and to discover a toolkit of skills to support their development.
Who is this for?
This course is aimed at composers who have received formal training in music composition at undergraduate level and above, but we recognise that pathways into the industry are diverse and varied. If you feel you have the necessary skillset to be part of this course and would like to take part, please do not hesitate to contact nathan@nathanjamesdearden.com in the first instance.
Book now
For full information, course fees, how to book, and what bursaries are available, please visit the website (link embedded).
'Locus iste' at The Name of Mary Church, Novi Sad
Performer(s): Founder’s Choir of Royal Holloway; Andrej Ivanovic (cond.)
Event description
The Founder’s Choir of Royal Holloway will be touring Serbia this summer 2024, featuring a blend of choral classics and the contemporary. As part of this tour, the choir will be premiering Nathan James Dearden’s introit, Locus iste, a work especially created for the choir.
'Locus iste' in Belgrade
Performer(s): Founder’s Choir of Royal Holloway; Andrej Ivanovic (cond.)
Event description
The Founder’s Choir of Royal Holloway will be touring Serbia this summer 2024, featuring a blend of choral classics and the contemporary. As part of this tour, the choir will be premiering Nathan James Dearden’s introit, Locus iste, a work especially created for the choir.
This performance is part of a liturgical service - the first Choral Evensong held in this region of Serbia
'Locus iste' in Subotica
Performer(s): Founder’s Choir of Royal Holloway; Andrej Ivanovic (cond.)
Event description
The Founder’s Choir of Royal Holloway will be touring Serbia this summer 2024, featuring a blend of choral classics and the contemporary. As part of this tour, the choir will be premiering Nathan James Dearden’s introit, Locus iste, a work especially created for the choir.
'nunc dimittis' with Choir of Royal Holloway
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway; Andrej Ivanovitch (organ); Rupert Gough (cond.)
Event description
This performance will be part of the 2024 Honorary Fellowship Ceremony at Royal Holloway University of London.
Honorary Fellowships are awarded to those who have achieved eminence and those who have made an outstanding contribution to the life and work of the University, or either of the parent colleges, or to the cause of education generally.
This year Royal Holloway, University of London will be conferring titles on four Honorary Fellows: Professor Paul Layzell CBE, Prakriti Malhotra, Professor Francis Robinson CBE and Kyriaki Spanou.
The ceremony will be held in the Chapel on Wednesday 5 June on our Egham campus from 6pm, with guests to be seated by 5.45pm. The ceremony will then be folllowed by a buffet supper in the Picture Gallery.
Please note that the dress code for this event is lounge suit/ decorations to be worn.
Join us
For full information, please check out this webpage (link embedded)
'o'r galon' at St. David's Cathedral Festival
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway; Rupert Gough (cond.)
Event description
The Choir of Royal Holloway is now well-established as one of the leading collegiate choirs in the UK. This incredible team of 24 choral scholars and director, Rupert Gough are known internationally for their highly engaging performances and vast catalogue of stunning recordings, particularly in collaboration with Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo. In their Festival debut, they present a programme of popular orchestral music arranged for chorus, including Vaughan Williams’ ‘Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis’, Ravel’s ‘Pavane pour une infante défunte’, and a new mass setting based on Peter Warlock’s ‘Capriol Suite’ by George Arthur. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear this wonderful choir in Britain’s smallest city!
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For full information, please check out this webpage (link embedded)
'first service' with Choir of Royal Holloway
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway; Andrej Ivanovitch (organ); Rupert Gough (cond.)
Event description
Join the Choir of Royal Holloway for this special Choral Evensong in the wonderful setting of our Chapel, celebrating contemporary service settings including Nathan James Dearden's First Service. Please note that this is a liturgical service.
For further event information and to watch online, please visit the choir's dedicated page: www.chapelchoir.co.uk
Join us
For full information, please check out this webpage (link embedded)
'The day following' with UPROAR Wales
Performer(s): UPROAR Wales New Music Ensemble; Michael Rafferty (cond.)
Event information
Following our Scenes from a Street and Professor Bad Trip tours in 2022 our talented and accomplished ensemble will be performing a brand new programme to five venues in Wales between February and March.
UPROAR – Wales’ New Music Ensemble returns with its latest project for 17 musicians, championing some of the most exciting voices in Welsh classical music today alongside multi-award-winning international composers. Three new bold pieces of classical music that will take you on a journey, inspired by, and responding to contemporary life in Wales.
UPROAR will also be performing music from well-known international composers, Olga Neuwirth’s dynamic soundtrack complements the playful abstract film of Viking Eggeling in her piece ‘Symphonie Diagonale’. And in ‘Son of Chamber Symphony’ by John Adams, the world’s most popular living composer, the last movement was described in the Los Angeles Times as ‘..one of those Adams bucking-bronco blastoffs, riveting and full of surprises."
Book your tickets now
For more inforamtion about the event and to join us, please visit this website (link embedded).
'The day following' with UPROAR Wales
Performer(s): UPROAR Wales New Music Ensemble; Michael Rafferty (cond.)
Event information
Following our Scenes from a Street and Professor Bad Trip tours in 2022 our talented and accomplished ensemble will be performing a brand new programme to five venues in Wales between February and March.
UPROAR – Wales’ New Music Ensemble returns with its latest project for 17 musicians, championing some of the most exciting voices in Welsh classical music today alongside multi-award-winning international composers. Three new bold pieces of classical music that will take you on a journey, inspired by, and responding to contemporary life in Wales.
UPROAR will also be performing music from well-known international composers, Olga Neuwirth’s dynamic soundtrack complements the playful abstract film of Viking Eggeling in her piece ‘Symphonie Diagonale’. And in ‘Son of Chamber Symphony’ by John Adams, the world’s most popular living composer, the last movement was described in the Los Angeles Times as ‘..one of those Adams bucking-bronco blastoffs, riveting and full of surprises."
Book your tickets now
For more inforamtion about the event and to join us, please visit this website (link embedded).
'two hymns' at New Sounds Festival 2024
Performer(s): New Music Collective
Event description
The music of the past has long inspired new sounds composed by living composers, shining a new light of old traditions, music which bridges the sonic gap between the new and the old, the profane and the spiritual. Join the New Music Collective and New Voices Consort, Under the direction of composer-conductor Nathan James Dearden, for an evening of transcendent music by Arvo Pärt, Knut Nystedt, Missy Mazzoli, and Meredith Monk.
More information
For more information and how to join us, please visit this dedicated webpage (link embedded).
'first service' at New Sounds Festival 2024
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway; Andrej Ivanovitch (organ); Rupert Gough (cond.)
Event description
Join the Choir of Royal Holloway for this special Choral Evensong in the wonderful setting of our Chapel, celebrating contemporary service settings including Nathan James Dearden's First Service. Please note that this is a liturgical service.
For further event information and to watch online, please visit the choir's dedicated page: www.chapelchoir.co.uk
Join us
For full information, please check out this webpage (link embedded)
'pixelated in quick motion' at New Sounds Festival 2024
Performer(s): Tippett Quartet
Event description
We are excited to launch our New Sounds 2024 Festival with an intimate performance given by our outgoing Quartet-in-Residence, the Tippett Quartet, of music that marries the old with the new. For this up-close and relaxed performance in the beautiful surroundings of our Herringham Room for music by Franz Schubert, Caroline Shaw, and Nathan James Dearden.
Audience guests will also have the opportunity to meet and chat with the Tippett Quartet following their performance.
More information
For more information about this event, please visit this dedicated webpage (link embededd).
'The day following' with UPROAR Wales
Performer(s): UPROAR Wales New Music Ensemble; Michael Rafferty (cond.)
Event information
Following our Scenes from a Street and Professor Bad Trip tours in 2022 our talented and accomplished ensemble will be performing a brand new programme to five venues in Wales between February and March.
UPROAR – Wales’ New Music Ensemble returns with its latest project for 17 musicians, championing some of the most exciting voices in Welsh classical music today alongside multi-award-winning international composers. Three new bold pieces of classical music that will take you on a journey, inspired by, and responding to contemporary life in Wales.
UPROAR will also be performing music from well-known international composers, Olga Neuwirth’s dynamic soundtrack complements the playful abstract film of Viking Eggeling in her piece ‘Symphonie Diagonale’. And in ‘Son of Chamber Symphony’ by John Adams, the world’s most popular living composer, the last movement was described in the Los Angeles Times as ‘..one of those Adams bucking-bronco blastoffs, riveting and full of surprises."
Book your tickets now
For more inforamtion about the event and to join us, please visit this website (link embedded).
'open thou our lips' with Cardiff Polyphonic Choir
Performer(s): Cardiff Polyphonic Choir; Philip Aspden (organ); Thomas Blunt (cond.)
More information
To find out more about the perforemrs and the event itself, please visit their website (link embedded)
'The day following' with UPROAR Wales
Performer(s): UPROAR Wales New Music Ensemble; Michael Rafferty (cond.)
Event information
Following our Scenes from a Street and Professor Bad Trip tours in 2022 our talented and accomplished ensemble will be performing a brand new programme to five venues in Wales between February and March.
UPROAR – Wales’ New Music Ensemble returns with its latest project for 17 musicians, championing some of the most exciting voices in Welsh classical music today alongside multi-award-winning international composers. Three new bold pieces of classical music that will take you on a journey, inspired by, and responding to contemporary life in Wales.
UPROAR will also be performing music from well-known international composers, Olga Neuwirth’s dynamic soundtrack complements the playful abstract film of Viking Eggeling in her piece ‘Symphonie Diagonale’. And in ‘Son of Chamber Symphony’ by John Adams, the world’s most popular living composer, the last movement was described in the Los Angeles Times as ‘..one of those Adams bucking-bronco blastoffs, riveting and full of surprises."
Book your tickets now
For more inforamtion about the event and to join us, please visit this website (link embedded).
'hope is the thing with feathers' with CBSO Children's Chorus
WORLD PREMIERE
Performer(s): CBSO Children’s Chorus; Julian Wilkins (cond.)
About the event
GLITZ, GLAMOUR, AND A CHANCE TO CELEBRATE YOUR SUPPORT!
Our Annual Circles' Dinner sees Circle Members, staff and players getting dressed up for a spectacular evening at Birmingham's beautiful Hyatt Regency. For more information, please visit this website (link embedded)
More information about ‘Hope’ is a thing with feathers
For full information about this new work, please visit this dedicated webpage. (lInk embedded)
'The day following' with UPROAR Wales
WORLD PREMIERE
Performer(s): UPROAR Wales New Music Ensemble; Michael Rafferty (cond.)
Event information
Following our Scenes from a Street and Professor Bad Trip tours in 2022 our talented and accomplished ensemble will be performing a brand new programme to five venues in Wales between February and March.
UPROAR – Wales’ New Music Ensemble returns with its latest project for 17 musicians, championing some of the most exciting voices in Welsh classical music today alongside multi-award-winning international composers. Three new bold pieces of classical music that will take you on a journey, inspired by, and responding to contemporary life in Wales.
UPROAR will also be performing music from well-known international composers, Olga Neuwirth’s dynamic soundtrack complements the playful abstract film of Viking Eggeling in her piece ‘Symphonie Diagonale’. And in ‘Son of Chamber Symphony’ by John Adams, the world’s most popular living composer, the last movement was described in the Los Angeles Times as ‘..one of those Adams bucking-bronco blastoffs, riveting and full of surprises."
Book your tickets now
For more inforamtion about the event and to join us, please visit this website (link embedded).
'ayre' at RMA Research Conference 2024
Performer(s): Trio Anima
Event description
The British Forum for Ethnomusicology (BFE) and Royal Musical Association (RMA) Research Students’ Conference will be hosted by Cardiff University’s School of Music, on 10–12 January 2024.
Their performance will feature works from their debut album, ‘Between Earth and Sea’, alongside student works from the BFE / RMA Composition Workshop call.
Join us
Please click here (link embedded) to find out more information.
'i breathe' at World Music Days 2023
Performer(s): Cape Town Camerata; Leon Starker (cond.)
About World Music Days
The Artistic Director of the World New Music Days 2023, composer and percussionist Lukas Ligeti, says: “The festival’s program will have three areas of focus. First, there will be the aforementioned contributions from the network’s member organizations. Second will be a look back at 100 years of history of the ISCM and, specifically, the WNMD, presenting some of the most important works of concert-music composed during the last century. Finally, and most importantly, we will provide a multifaceted survey of the lively creative activity in experimental and innovative music in Africa.”
The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is the premier forum for the advancement, dissemination and interchange of new music from around the world. Through ISCM, members promote contemporary music in all its varied forms, strengthening musical life in their local contexts and making their music and its creators known to world.
More information about i breathe
To find our more about i breathe or to hear it online, visit this webpage (link embedded)
'nova! nova!' with Hemiola Octet
Performer(s): Hemiola Octet; Harvey Lok (cond.)
More information
For more information and how to join them, please visit this social media post (link embedded)
'the way we go' at Leeds Lieder Festival 2023
Performer(s): Helen Charlston (mezzo soprano), Joseph Middleton piano)
Event information
BBC New Generation Artist, Helen Charlston (mezzo-soprano) and pianist Joseph Middleton perform a programme of music by Fanny Hensel, John Ireland and Mahler in this lunchtime recital at the Wesley Centre in Harrogate.
Book your ticket now
Book your ticket now through Leeds Lieder Festival HERE (link embedded)