The inaugural New Music Biennial will launch in January 2014 and see 20 composers and commissioning organisations paired together to work on producing new pieces of music.
Selected from over 130 proposals, the commissions will be debuted at performances running across the whole of the UK during 2014. All twenty pieces will be featured at two weekend showcases hosted by London’s Southbank Centre (4-6 July 2014) and Glasgow UNESCO City of Music (2-3 Aug 2014) and on BBC Radio 3. NMC Recordings will be releasing each piece of new music via digital downloads.
Works selected showcase the diverse range of musical talent at work in the UK – Matthew Herbert will use the sounds of 20 pianos from across the world in his composition while Shingai Shoniwa from the Noisettes will collaborate on a new piece with The Invisible’s David Okumu.
Other commissions include a folk piece led by composer and broadcaster Mary Ann Kennedy which will consist of songs created on ferry crossings in the Scottish Highlands, to be performed in Inverness and on the Ardnamurchan peninsula.
Vanessa Reed, Executive Director of PRS for Music Foundation, said: ‘As lead funder of new music in the UK, we’re constantly inspired by the imagination and quality of the many composers and commissioning organisations we support. The New Music Biennial gives us the opportunity to celebrate this creativity by presenting outstanding new music – in any genre – which has the potential to inspire audiences across the UK.’
Roger Wright, Controller BBC Radio 3 and Director BBC Proms, led the judging panel which included some of the UK’s most eminent musicians: Dame Evelyn Glennie; singer/songwriter and broadcaster Cerys Matthews; award-winning composer Max Richter; multi-talented composer/saxophonist Jason Yarde; Southbank Centre’s Head of Classical MusicGillian Moore; Director of Glasgow UNESCO City of Music, Svend Brown.
The first edition of the New Music Biennial has been developed in partnership with Creative Scotland, Arts Council England and the British Council.
The full list of commissions is below:
Niraj Chag commissioned by Arts Depot
Lau commissioned by Celtic Connections Festival
Gwilym Simcock commissioned by City of London Sinfonia
Yann Seznec commissioned by Edinburgh Art Festival
Andy Scott and Lemn Sissay commissioned by Foden's Brass Band
Matheu Watson and Luke Daniels commissioned by Gael Music
Arlene Sierra commissioned by INTER/actions Bangor New Music Festival
Akwasi Mensah commissioned by Jazz re:freshed
Luke Styles commissioned by Juice Vocal Ensemble
Jez Colborne commissioned by Mind the Gap
Piers Hellawell commissioned by Moving On Music
Gabriel Jackson commissioned by Mr McFall's Chamber
David Sawer commissioned by Onyx Brass
Shingai Shoniwa commissioned by Serious
Stephen Montague commissioned by sound festival
Samuel Bordoli commissioned by Tête a Tête
Dobrinka Tabakova commissioned by The Royal Philharmonic Society
Alistair Anderson commissioned by The Sage Gateshead
Matthew Herbert commissioned by Third Ear Music
Mary Ann Kennedy commissioned by Watercolour Music
Selected from over 130 proposals, the commissions will be debuted at performances running across the whole of the UK during 2014. All twenty pieces will be featured at two weekend showcases hosted by London’s Southbank Centre (4-6 July 2014) and Glasgow UNESCO City of Music (2-3 Aug 2014) and on BBC Radio 3. NMC Recordings will be releasing each piece of new music via digital downloads.
Works selected showcase the diverse range of musical talent at work in the UK – Matthew Herbert will use the sounds of 20 pianos from across the world in his composition while Shingai Shoniwa from the Noisettes will collaborate on a new piece with The Invisible’s David Okumu.
Other commissions include a folk piece led by composer and broadcaster Mary Ann Kennedy which will consist of songs created on ferry crossings in the Scottish Highlands, to be performed in Inverness and on the Ardnamurchan peninsula.
Vanessa Reed, Executive Director of PRS for Music Foundation, said: ‘As lead funder of new music in the UK, we’re constantly inspired by the imagination and quality of the many composers and commissioning organisations we support. The New Music Biennial gives us the opportunity to celebrate this creativity by presenting outstanding new music – in any genre – which has the potential to inspire audiences across the UK.’
Roger Wright, Controller BBC Radio 3 and Director BBC Proms, led the judging panel which included some of the UK’s most eminent musicians: Dame Evelyn Glennie; singer/songwriter and broadcaster Cerys Matthews; award-winning composer Max Richter; multi-talented composer/saxophonist Jason Yarde; Southbank Centre’s Head of Classical MusicGillian Moore; Director of Glasgow UNESCO City of Music, Svend Brown.
The first edition of the New Music Biennial has been developed in partnership with Creative Scotland, Arts Council England and the British Council.
The full list of commissions is below:
Niraj Chag commissioned by Arts Depot
Lau commissioned by Celtic Connections Festival
Gwilym Simcock commissioned by City of London Sinfonia
Yann Seznec commissioned by Edinburgh Art Festival
Andy Scott and Lemn Sissay commissioned by Foden's Brass Band
Matheu Watson and Luke Daniels commissioned by Gael Music
Arlene Sierra commissioned by INTER/actions Bangor New Music Festival
Akwasi Mensah commissioned by Jazz re:freshed
Luke Styles commissioned by Juice Vocal Ensemble
Jez Colborne commissioned by Mind the Gap
Piers Hellawell commissioned by Moving On Music
Gabriel Jackson commissioned by Mr McFall's Chamber
David Sawer commissioned by Onyx Brass
Shingai Shoniwa commissioned by Serious
Stephen Montague commissioned by sound festival
Samuel Bordoli commissioned by Tête a Tête
Dobrinka Tabakova commissioned by The Royal Philharmonic Society
Alistair Anderson commissioned by The Sage Gateshead
Matthew Herbert commissioned by Third Ear Music
Mary Ann Kennedy commissioned by Watercolour Music
