Over the weekend I had the pleasure of performing my movement from the collaborative Concerto for Drum Machine & Orchestra – originally commissioned by Nonclassical in 2017 – again. I rebaptised it as PREST0 for the occasion, and was lucky enough to be accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra conudcted by Darren Bloom.
It was a wonderful evening showcasing the range of music Nonclassical has had its hands on over the past twenty years.. including a world premiere by Beatrice Dillon.
"The highlight of the evening [...] is the Concerto for Drum Machine and Orchestra [...]: best of all might be Josephine Stephenson's final section, where he drumbox's rolling tom-tom riffs and beepy claves are set against drowsy, legato strings." - The Guardian
Today marks the release of Laura Cahen's new single Quitter la ville, which we made together with Mike Lindsay last summer.
It comes with a video!
I hope you enjoy it :)
Rest(e) on France Musique
03/04/2024
Tonight France Musique will broadcast I Giardini's concert at Festival Présences on 11th February, which featured my piece for mezzo-soprano, cello and piano Rest(e), performed with Fiona McGown.
The BBC Singers recorded my piece Into the Wreck for a special broadcast to set up International Women's Day on BBC Radio 3 last night.
You can hear their beautiful rendition in the interval of BBC in Concert here.
In Time Like Air on YouTube
19/02/2024
You can now watch the video of In Time Like Air, captured by Arte Concert during the opening concert of the Festival Présences, below:
Carrefour de la Création with Héloïse Werner
14/02/2024
Last Sunday evening saw the broadcast of a special edition of 'Carrefour de la Création' on France Musique: named "À deux voix", it's an hour-long episode in which my dear friend and colleague Héloïse Werner and I go back in ping-pong over our composing careers and outputs. It was such a joy to make!
Yesterday I Giardini and Fiona McGown gave the premiere of Rest(e), a new song cycle in two parts about death and grief, on poems by Christina Rossetti and Renée Vivien, as part of the Festival Présences.
I was happy to share the programme with two composers I admire: Philippe Hersant and Caroline Shaw.
The concert will be broadcast on France Musique on 3 April 2024.
In Time Like Air @ Présences Festival
07/02/2024
Last night Ensemble Intercontemporain gave the premiere of In Time Like Air, a new 15min piece inspired by the poetry of May Sarton which opened the Festival Présences.
This year's edition is dedicated to the work of Steve Reich and it's an honour to have my music presented in my home country in this context.. Second premiere on Sunday!
"The beautiful discovery of this opening night" - Transfuge
Matinale de France Musique with Fiona Monbet
05/02/2024
I was on France Musique's Matinale programme this morning to talk about the work I'm presenting at Présences Festival at Radio France this week.
It was an added bonus that I was joined by my old friend and colleague Fiona Monbet, who herself will conduct a show at the festival over the weekend.
I recently came back from Tokyo where we presented the world premiere of a collaboration project, 'KAGUYA - The Daughter Tree', at Bunnka Kaikan.
KAGUYA is a sort of song cycle/music theatre piece with a libretto by Ben Osborn and choreography by Kaiji Moriyama. It's scored for voice, string quartet and koto and is an adaptation of the ancient Japanese folk tale 'The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter' with a feminist, eco-conscious modern lens.
The show was well received and we hope it will tour to Europe next year - stay tuned!
