Celebrating classical music, jazz and sound-art: the 20th edition of the Ivors Composer Awards

Cheryl Frances-Hoad accepts the Ivor Novello Award
for Large Ensemble from Michelle Escoffery
(Photo: Mark Allan Photography)

This year's Ivors Composer Awards (the 20th) have been announced, and congratulations to all the winners, and it is heartening to see Judith Weir and George Benjamin both getting more general awards for their body of work. Seven composers received an award for the first time, Brett Dean, Joanna Marsh, Liz Dilnot Johnson, Tori Freestone, Laurence Crane, Hannah Conway and Talvin Singh.

The awards ceremony was hosted by BBC Radio 3’s Hannah Peel and Tom Service at the British Museum, will be broadcast on the station’s New Music Show on 19 November 2022.

We managed to catch two of the works nominated, Cheryl Frances-Hoad's song cycle, Scenes from the Wild, see my review, and the Royal Ballet's Dante Project with Thomas Adès's score.

THE IVORS COMPOSER AWARDS 2022 WINNERS
ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP - JUDITH WEIR

• CHAMBER ENSEMBLE - MADAME MA BONNE SŒUR composed by Brett Dean, for mezzo-soprano and string quartet
• CHORAL - ALL SHALL BE WELL composed by Joanna Marsh, for unaccompanied choir
• COMMUNITY AND PARTICIPATION - WHEN A CHILD IS A WITNESS – REQUIEM FOR REFUGEES composed by Liz Dilnot Johnson, for choir, children's choir, mezzo soprano solo, organ, piano, violin/Hardanger fiddle and refugee groups
• INNOVATION AWARD in association with the Musicians’ Union - TALVIN SINGH
• JAZZ ENSEMBLE - BIRDS OF PARADISE composed by Tori Freestone, for jazz trio (flute/triangle, vocals and piano)
• LARGE ENSEMBLE - SCENES FROM THE WILD composed by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, for tenor and chamber orchestra
• ORCHESTRAL - TO AN UTTERANCE composed by Rebecca Saunders, for piano and orchestra
• OUTSTANDING WORKS COLLECTION - GEORGE BENJAMIN
• SMALL CHAMBER - NATURAL WORLD composed by Laurence Crane, for soprano and piano / sampler keyboard
• SOUND ART - THE SOUND VOICE PROJECT: PAUL, I LEFT MY VOICE BEHIND AND TANJA by Hannah Conway, performance installation exploring stories of voice loss and identity.
• STAGE WORKS - DANTE composed by Thomas Adès, ballet in three parts, for orchestra with pre-recorded voices and female choir

Celebrating an exciting and diverse year: Opera North's review of 2022

Verdi: Rigoletto - Sir Willard White, Callum Thorpe, Eric Greene, Roman Arndt, Themba Mvula - Opera North (Photo Clive Barda)

With all the gloomy news about mainstream arts funding in the UK, I thought that we ought to look at something more positive, what can be achieved despite underfunding. I recently received Opera North's review of 2022 (actually September 2021 to August 2022) and it makes heartening reading.

During this period, the company saw over 86,000 people pass through its doors to attend an Opera North show, concert or event somewhere in the country. Add to this nearly 3 million social media engagements, and over 40,000 streams of the company's production of Handel's Alcina on the OperaVision platform and you can see why they feel pleased. For their production of Carmen, 50% of audience members were new, and the Under 30s membership scheme has over 7,000 members. 

The season saw Garry Walker finally making his debut as music director, the opening of the Howard Opera Centre (the company's new home next to the Grand Theatre) and the opening of the refurbished Howard Assembly Room where the re-opening season attracted of 12, 000 people.

And it is not just about Opera North, it is about others too. The company collaborated with Phoenix Dance Theatre, and with Leeds Playhouse on A Little Night Music, as well as the orchestra resuming its Kirklees concert season. The Resonance residencies (which began in 2017) supported five UK-based artists from a wide variety of musical genres [see my article], including composer and tabla player Mendi Mohinder Singh who created a new piece of percussive music with visually impaired people.  

And the DARE Art Prize, done in partnership with the University of Leeds, challenges artists and scientists to work together. The 2022-23 prize winner is sculptor Katie Surridge, who is addressing the problem of resources wasted in discarded electronic devices.

Over in education, over 800 school children took part in the Big Sing: The Water-Diviner's Tale event, where children aged 7 to 11 were joined by four professional singers, a narrator and an instrumental ensemble drawn from the orchestra, and the production will return in 2023. The Opera North Youth Orchestra was launched in October 2021, intended as a pre-professional ensemble for talented instrumentalists in college or university, and in March 2022 the orchestra gave its first public performance outside of Opera North's premises, at The Venue in Leeds. The Opera North Youth Company gave performances of Hans Krasa's Brundibar in the Howard Assembly Room and at Sage Gateshead in February 2022.

And not to forget the Opera North In Harmony programme, currently taking place in six primary schools in Leeds and Halifax, and one secondary school in Leeds, giving pupils access to regular music making activities both in the curriculum and as extra-curricular activity

Planet Hugill at Opera North

• Bizet: Carmen - February 2022 - my review
• Handel: Alcina - February 2022 - my review
• Verdi: Rigoletto - February 2022 - my review
• Sondheim: A Little Night Music - seen July 2021, but production revived in 2022 - my review
• See all our articles on Opera North

Massive climaxes & mystical moments: Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony is the centrepiece of The Bach Choir's celebration at the Royal Festival Hall

Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1898

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Overture: The Wasps, The Garden of Proserpine, A Sea Symphony; Elizabeth Watts, Roderick Williams, The Bach Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra, David Hill; Royal Festival Hall
Reviewed 17 November 2022 (★★★★½)

The Bach Choir on thrilling form in a concert celebrating Vaughan Williams with his choral masterwork alongside two other early works

One of the themes that have arisen from this year's celebrations of RVW's 150th birthday is the exploration and discovery of his early works, written at a time when his mature style was just starting to coalesce. This was very much on display at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall on 17 November 2022 when David Hill conducted The Bach Choir and the Philharmonia Orchestra in an all-RVW programme that concentrated on the years 1899 to 1910, with the composer's first large-scale composition, The Garden of Proserpine (from 1899), the overture to The Wasps (from 1909) and A Sea Symphony (premiered in 1910), with soloists Roderick Williams and Elizabeth Watts.

RVW carefully curated his early works, allowing some to be performed but withdrawing many; pieces that had had currency before World War I were suppressed on his return. It is only with the release of these over the years that a bigger picture of RVW the composer during his 20s and 30s has come to light. 

A Yorkshire Nativity: Ben Crick's new oratorio uses traditional local tunes to tell a contemporary story

Ben Crick (Photo: Lorne Campbell / Guzelian)

Composer Ben Crick's A Yorkshire Nativity, which is premiered by Skipton Camerata at Skipton Town Hall on 10 December 2022, has a distinctly local connection. Not only is he a local boy (born in Huddersfield) and the artistic director of Skipton Camerata but his new oratorio tells the story of the nativity using traditional local carols. These old tunes are ones that never made it into the traditional canon of Christmas tunes. Many were created by local people in the 1700s and first written down by an 18th-century blacksmith, and they are still sung in some pubs around Sheffield and Barnsley.

The 45-minute oratorio has a libretto by Sally Edwards and tells the story of the nativity but is set in contemporary times. Ben Crick comments, "The carols talk about austerity, poverty, migration and hope all things that abounded in the 18th century and we’re not exactly short of now either, it’s a Christmas story for today."

The work will be performed by the Clothworkers Consort of Leeds choir and the Skipton Building Society Camerata.  Skipton Camerata is supported by the local building society, Crick explains, "In the past, big local employers offered philanthropically supported brass bands and choirs amongst the workers. Today, the Skipton Building Society is helping us deliver national-level art in a rural area, it’s a similar financial model". Arts Council England's controversial recent funding announcement has left the country’s biggest county, North Yorkshire, with only seven regularly funded groups and Crick sees the Skipton model as one that is a way forward.

Further details from the Skipton Camerata website.

Unnervingly different: Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson's Landvættirnar fjórar

Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson: Landvættirnar fjórar; Þórunn Björndóttir, Steinunn Vala Pálsdóttir, Ásthildur Ákadóttir, Óskar Magnússon, Páll Ivan frá Eiðum , Andrés Þór Þorvarðarson; Carrier Records

Familiar elements re-combined into an unnervingly different world inspired by organic non-metrical rhythms, ancient tunings, and Icelandic folklore

I first came across the music of Icelandic composer Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson in 2020 when his Sinfonia was issued on Carrier Records [see my review]. I have to confess that whilst I was struck by Steinn Gunnarsson's mixture of anarchy, experimentalism and individuality, I also brought up the fact the sound world on the disc rather reminded me of the TV series The Clangers. To his great credit, Steinn Gunnarsson rather than objecting took the idea on board with humour and when emailing me about the new disc, The Clangers had a mention.

Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson's new disc on Carrier Records, Landvættirnar fjórar features the ensemble Steinalda, six performers, a group of musicians cherry-picked from various other Icelandic ensembles by the composer - Þórunn Björndóttir (tenor recorder, ocarinas, bottles, rabbit calls), Steinunn Vala Pálsdóttir (flute, ocarina, bottles, samba whistle), Ásthildur Ákadóttir (melodica, toy piano,  percussion, various whistles), Óskar Magnússon (guitarlele, modified recorder, percussion), Páll Ivan frá Eiðum (percussion, modified recorder, toy piano, various whistles), and Andrés Þór Þorvarðarson (percussion, modified recorder, various whistles) - in four works inspired by the four guardian spirits that, in folklore, watch over the four corners of Iceland.

Again, Steinn Gunnarsson has created his own sound world that might take elements from others but does so in a way that draws you into a world of pitch, rhythm and timbre that seems to owe no allegiance to any other. Whilst reviewing Steinn Gunnarson's Sinfonia for Musicworks magazine in 2020, Nick Storring said "The listening experience feels like being welcomed into an eccentric, remote village where residents have freely mashed together ancient traditions and newly invented customs to devise their own rustic utopia.", and that is very much the case here.

Never quite lost, Leonard Bernstein's Music for String Quartet to receive its premiere recording

Leonard Bernstein

In 1936, the New England String Quartet gave a rehearsed reading of a new string quartet by a young American composer (still in his late teens), after the reading the composer gave the manuscript to the leader of the quartet, Stanley Benson. The manuscript remained in the Benson's music cabinet; though it would be played from time to time by Benson's widow, the existence of the work remained hidden from view.

The composer was Leonard Bernstein. 

Bernstein's Music for String Quartet finally received its public premiere in November 2021 when Lucia Lin, Natalie Rose Kress, Danny Kim, and Ronald Feldman performed it at Tanglewood's Linde Center. Shortly after this performance, a hitherto unknown second movement was discovered at the Library of Congress.

Now both movements of Bernstein's Music for String Quartet are being recorded by Parma Recordings, with the same performers, Lucia Lin, Natalie Rose Kress, Danny Kim, and Ronald Feldman, and will be issued on disc in 2023. The disc will also include the seldom-recorded duo piece Elegies for Violin and Viola by Aaron Copland, a musical mentor, collaborator, and dear friend of Bernstein’s.

Further details from the Parma Recordings website.

Oxford Philharmonic celebrates 20 years of being orchestra in residence at University of Oxford

Marios Papadopoulos and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra at the Sheldonian Theatre

In 2002, the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra was appointed orchestra in residence at the University of Oxford, the first orchestra ever to be so appointed. Now, they are celebrating the 20th anniversary of this event with a concert in the Sheldonian Theatre on Thursday 18 November 2022.

Marios Papadopoulos, the orchestra's founder and music director, conducts the orchestra in Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. with violinist Jennifer Pike, and Bruckner's Te Deum, with the choirs of Merton College and The Queen's College plus soloists Lauren Fagan, Claudia Huckle, David Junghoon Kim and Simon Shibambu. The orchestra's conducting fellow, Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey conducts Brahms' Academic Festival Overture, with students from the university performing Side by Side with the orchestra, and the premiere of Jieun Lee's The Withdrawl. Jieun Lee's work was selected from the orchestra's 2021 Composers Workshop.

The orchestra's residency provides a diverse range of opportunities to Oxford University students, including performance opportunities, from solo and chamber recitals at the Sheldonian Theatre to performing as a member of the orchestra, or competing for the chance to play a concerto with the orchestra, plus masterclasses and workshops.

Full details from the orchestra's website.

DANCE: conductor Chloé van Soeterstède, former Taki Alsop Conducting Fellow, shares her thoughts on creating a concert around Anna Clyne's recent work for cello and orchestra

Chloé van Soeterstède and Arch Sinfonia 

On Friday 18 November 2022, conductor Chloé van Soeterstède and Arch Sinfonia will give the London premiere of Anna Clyne's DANCE with cellist Inbal Segev, for whom the piece was written, as part of a concert at Cecil Sharp House featuring music by Sibelius and Beethoven also evoking the dance theme. Chloé van Soeterstède was Taki Alsop Conducting Fellow 2019-21, and this concert forms part of the wider Taki Alsop 20th Anniversary Global Series, which sees conducting fellows perform DANCE in cities around the globe. Here, Chloé van Soeterstède introduces the music, the concert and her role as Taki Alsop Conducting Fellow.

My name is Chloé van Soeterstède, I am a conductor and founded my chamber orchestra, Arch Sinfonia 10 years ago while studying viola at the Royal Academy of Music, London. 

Getting to conduct has always been a very organic and maturing process. I began my musical journey playing the violin, then the viola and through playing with youth orchestras and then professional orchestras, I learned a lot about conducting and my hunger for it grew from around age 14. I studied conducting in France and then completed my Masters in Conducting in Manchester. Signing with my manager at Intermusica in 2018 and since then, I have relished the opportunity to conduct many prestigious and fantastic orchestras, predominantly across Europe and North America.

Arch Sinfonia is a young professional cross-arts orchestra guided by three main principles: To be daring, inspiring and accessible. We are an orchestra which bridges the gap between audience and musicians with music from classical to contemporary. Verbal introductions in concerts aim to give a more informal atmosphere, welcoming audience members to sit amongst the musicians for a unique experience of the music and to consider it from a different perspective, and we also invite the audience to help shape Arch Sinfonia’s future programme by an audience vote, embedding a co-curated approach to each season.

As a cross-arts orchestra we strive to bridge music with other mediums including visual art, dance and spoken word through special initiatives and innovative partnerships. It is rare to find an orchestra dedicated to this and we are here to bridge that gap!

Anna Clyne’s work for cello and orchestra entitled DANCE is the centrepiece of our upcoming concert on 18 November and in fact inspired me to programme the whole concert around this theme. Drawing on this, we will also perform Sibelius’ Valse Triste and Beethoven’s Symphony no.8 – perhaps an unexpected work to include but nonetheless, it speaks to the theme with its daring minuet.

DANCE is a wonderful piece full of contrast, colours and different textures. I am particularly excited about the use of the percussion, which adds such depth to the music. The way Anna Clyne interweaves her music with different artforms is especially fitting for Arch Sinfonia, embodying the very essence of what the Orchestra is all about.

Inbal Segev recorded this piece with Marin Alsop and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and I was present at this recording during the beginning of my Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship (TACF) 2019-2020. I recall the energy and delicacy she brought to the piece, and I look forward to recreating this. Without a doubt, I feel very honoured to be conducting the UK premiere with my orchestra I founded 10 years ago and in such esteemed company of Inbal.

Being part of the Taki Alsop family has been a unique and empowering experience which I am so grateful for. I was fortunate to meet with Marin Alsop three times with three distinct orchestras in three different cities before COVID hit – Vienna, Paris and London – and this was a major coup for me at that point in my career. A big highlight of my time with the TACF was in Vienna, when Marin asked me to conduct part of her general rehearsal of Schumann’s Second Symphony, the 3rd movement. As she knew what a fan I am of this movement, I was very humbled!

Arch Sinfonia’s next concert in June 2023 will continue the TACF ethos of championing women in classical music, promoting female composers and commissioning a new work by British composer, Lucy Armstrong, and with saxophone soloist Gillian Blair. Alongside this, we look to growing our work with schools to inspire the next generation of musicians and develop meaningful engagement initiatives with community groups. Naturally, the hit that the arts has taken recently is very scary for us as an orchestra which relies entirely on donations, ticket income and sponsorship. In this climate, funding is increasingly difficult to secure, so we are of course immensely grateful to the TACF for the sponsorship of Dance on November 18! Although this leaves the future uncertain, I remain steadfast in my commitment to Arch Sinfonia and to delivering its vision to reimagine orchestral music to be daring, inspiring and accessible to all. 

Full details of the Arch Sinfonia's concert at Cecil Sharp House on Friday 18 November from the English Folk Dance and Song Society website.

Young conductor and young composers

The young conductor Bradley Wilson has been announced as the inaugural conductor in residence with the London Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO), whilst the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM) and BBC Radio 3 have announced the NCEM Young Composers Award 2023.

Bradley Wilson (Photo Black Lives in Music)

Bradley Wilson's appointment as conductor in residence with the LSSO follows an open call from Guildhall Young Artists and Black Lives in Music to nurture diverse talent and representation within the orchestra. Whilst in post, Wilson will be involved in all aspects of the orchestra, including attending audition panels and taking sectional rehearsals, as well as conducting the LSSO in concert.   

Currently in his final year of studying for a Bachelor in Music with Performance at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Bradley Wilson is an instrumentalist and conductor. As a trumpet player with Chineke! Orchestra, he has performed in a wide variety of concerts. 

In addition to guest appearances with the Orchestra of the Swan, and Music of the Unseen, he serves as music director for The Rusty Players, and conductor for The Peoples Orchestra. As part of his studies in Birmingham, Bradley Wilson plans to form a new Midlands-based orchestra for the global majority with an aim to provide a safe performance space for amateur musicians and students.  

Full details from the Black Lives in Music website.

Each year the NCEM Young Composers Award is presented by the NCEM in association with BBC Radio 3 and they are delighted to welcome the virtuoso period instrument group The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble as partners for 2023. 

Young composers are invited to write a new piece for The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble based on a popular tune from the Spanish 'Golden Age' of the 16th and 17th centuries, creating their new work in the same spirit by using the melody as a starting point for musical ideas.

The Award is open to young composers resident in the UK up to the age of 25 and is judged in two age categories: 18 and under, and 19–25. Composers must register their interest by 12 noon on 17 February and scores should be submitted by 17 March 2023.

The short-listed composers will be invited to a collaborative workshop at the NCEM in York led by composer Christopher Fox and The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble. In the evening the shortlisted pieces will be performed with the judges present, when the two winning compositions will be announced.

The winning works will be premiered in a public performance at The Stoller Hall in Manchester on 9 November 2023 and the concert will be recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3's Early Music Show. The NCEM will meet all travel and accommodation costs for those selected to attend.

Full details from the Young Composers Award website.

 

'Followed by Reynaldo Hahn singing on his barque with a piano, as it floated down the canal' - St John's Smith Square evokes the Belle Époque with its new festival

Reynaldo Hahn in 1906

St John's Smith Square is planning a festival exploring the rich diet of late-19th and early-20th century music. Its Belle Époque Festival from 24 to 27 November 2022 will feature performances from Véronique Gens and Southbank Sinfonia.

Soprano Véronique Gens and pianist Susan Manoff will be presenting An evening with Reynaldo Hahn, showcasing the songs and piano music of the Peruvian-born French composer whose music embodies the Belle Époque. Gens will also be giving a masterclass, working with students from the Royal College of Music.

The festival is opened by Southbank Sinfonia, conducted by Anna Sułkowska-Migoń, an exciting young Polish conductor who won first prize at La Maestra Conducting Competition in March 2022, in a programme that mixes music by Hahn with Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No. 3.

Former St John’s Smith Square Young Artist Mathilde Milwidsky (violin) returns to explore the influence of Pauline Viardot and her salon in The Viardot Connection with William Howard (piano), Marie-Laure Garnier (soprano) and Célia Oneto Bensaid (piano) in a programme that pairs Viardot's own music with that of musicians who came to her salon including Hahn and Faure.

Quatuor Mona, a string quartet founded in 2018 at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, will play rarely performed chamber works by Hahn with pianist William Howard, whilst the festival concludes with Garnier, Howard and Celia Oneto Bensaid performing a programme of songs by Faure and Hahn on the twinned themes of Venice & Versailles inspired by an event at Versailles in 1908 to celebrate Faure's appointment as director of the Paris Conservatoire. The gardens were the setting for a performance of Faure's music, including the Pavane, then there was al fresco fine dining before the guests embarked upon a fleet of Venetian-style gondolas, when a hidden orchestra played music including excerpts from Fauré’s Shylock, followed by Reynaldo Hahn singing on his barque with a piano, as it floated down the canal!

Festival Curator, Beverley Vong comments, "When putting together the Belle Époque Festival, I was aware of how today's audiences will be familiar with Reynaldo Hahn's songs, 'A Chloris' in particular is a favourite in the recital hall. In reality, Hahn's output spans a huge variety of genres and this festival at St John's Smith Square gives an exciting insight into the significance of his output. Other composers feature as well, taking inspiration from Hahn's career and relations throughout his life: from Bach to Mozart, Faure to Pauline Viardot, the concerts offer an eclectic mix of song, piano music, and chamber music."

Full details from the St John's Smith Square website.

English music with a French accent: Ensemble Correspondances and Sébastien Daucé in Matthew Locke's Psyche

Matthew Locke: Psyche; Ensemble Corresondances, Sébastien Daucé; Harmonia Mundi
Reviewed 9 November 2022 (★★★★)

A lovely recording that showcases Matthew Locke's inventiveness in an imaginative reconstruction of his semi-opera Psyche from French forces, though the English language does not quite have the primacy it needs.

The problem with English opera and music theatre of the 17th century is that so little of it survives. It is difficult to get a good overview when we are reduced to fragments and a few surviving complete works. The score, by Matthew Locke and Christopher Gibbons for the 1653 masque Cupid and Death is the sole surviving score for a dramatic work from that era. Many of the music theatre works were the result of compositional teamwork, Locke was one of the quintet of composers who provided music for The Siege of Rhodes (1656), the breakthrough early opera by Sir William Davenant. Locke wrote music for subsequent Davenant operas, The Cruelty of the Spaniards in Peru (1658) and The History of Sir Francis Drake (1659). None of these, alas, survive.

After the Restoration, there was interest in music theatre and opera, and there were even attempts to establish opera in London. A French opera company under the direction of Robert Cambert, performed the opera Ariane, ou le mariage de Bacchus at the Drury Lane Theatre in March 1674. Cambert had moved to London with his pupil, Louis Grabu and it was Grabu who adapted the music for Cambert's Ariane and Pomone for London. But the operas were not much to the English taste. For the rest of the century, the English preferred that awkward mixture of speech and music that we now call semi-opera.

Inspired probably by Cambert's French opera, composers Matthew Locke and Giovanni Battista Draghi and librettist Thomas Shadwell collaborated on a new music theatre work, Psyche, with a libretto loosely based on Jean-Baptiste Lully's 1671 tragédie-ballet Psyché. Locke and Draghi's Psyche is arguably the first semi-opera to be created from scratch. It was premiered at the Dorset Garden Theatre, London in 1675. Happily for us, Locke published his music for Psyche, thus enabling performers to try and reconstruct the work.

On a new disc from Harmonia Mundi, the French Ensemble Correspondances, director Sébastien Daucé has recorded the Locke's Psyche, the first major outing on disc (I think) since Philip Pickett recorded it in 1995. Recreating the work is not unproblematic. Thomas Shadwell's word book was published, complete with detailed stage directions, but though Locke published his music that of Draghi has disappeared. It was Draghi who created the dances. Daucé has decided to replace the missing dances with something. Daucé feels that not enough of Draghi's other music survives to be of use, so Daucé has turned to Locke (with piece by Lully) to complete the work.

The Ivors Academy's survey of acclaimed composers reveals the importance of music education

Graham Davies, Chief Executive of The Ivors Academy.

To mark 20 years of The Ivors Composer Awards, The Ivors Academy surveyed 319 acclaimed classical, jazz and sound art composers about their music education. The majority studied music at school, had opportunities to learn an instrument, the chance to perform music when growing up and many now teach as part of their career.

•  96% learned one or more instruments as a child
• 94% had opportunities to perform music when young
• Of those that did perform, over 50 composers had opportunities at school or in their local area
• 64% of respondents attended a state-funded school
• 21% had a bursary to go to an independent school
• 83% studied music to A Level
• There has been a long-term decline in the number of A Level Music entrants in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, in 2012 there were 7,655 compared to 5,916 in 2022
• over 60% had received at least one commission from the BBC or one of its ensembles 
• 44% of respondents said that commissions have decreased in frequency since the start of their career
• 46% said per-minute commission fees had either decreased or stayed the same
• a third of respondents said it had become harder to start a career as a composer, 75% said they would still become a composer if they were starting out today. 

The results are illuminating and confirm what we all probably felt was the case, that early music education is important and that the government's lack of emphasis on music and the arts in education, including opportunities for those from families with limited resources, will likely have a deleterious effect on Britain's future musicians.

Graham Davies, Chief Executive of The Ivors Academy said, "Composers are voicing concerns about the impact of changes to funding and the long-term decline of music education in state schools. We need to bring music back into every school and community, and ensure stable, long-term funding for the UK’s enviable cultural institutions and venues."

Arvo Pärt and a Littlemore: Oxford's celebration of the Estonian composer's work

Celebrations planned for Arvo Pärt's 85th birthday in 2020 included a large-scale festival of his music in the UK. Inevitably cancelled, this is now taking place this month hosted by Music at Oxford in collaboration with the Estonian Embassy in London, Arvo Pärt Centre and TORCH. From 18 to 25 November 2022, there are 15 events in and around Oxford celebrating Arvo Pärt’s significant contribution and legacy through music, film and talks. Performers include the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conductor Tõnu Kaljuste, the choir of New College, Oxford, O/Modernt and Hugo Ticciati, the Carice Singers, conductor George Parris, the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet and Schola Cantorum Oxford.

The festival's full title is Arvo Pärt and a Littlemore, taking its name from Pärt's Littlemore Tractus, premiered in 2001 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Cardinal Newman. The words come from a sermon Newman preached in Littlemore in 1843 and Pärt's piece was premiered at the church of St Mary & St Nicholas, Littlemore where it will again be performed by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir as part of the festival.

Full details from Music at Oxford's website.

The friendship Hector Berlioz and Théophile Gautier in song at the London Song Festival

Théophile Gautier by Nadar (c. 1856)

Hector Berlioz and Théophile Gautier; Clara Barbier Serrano, Lexie Moon, Ben Vonberg-Clark, James Atkinson, Nigel Foster, Kevin Moore; London Song Festival at Hinde Street Methodist Church
Reviewed 11 November 2022 (★★★★)

A delightful exploration of the writer Théophile Gautier, setting Berlioz' settings of his poems alongside those by other composers and Gautier's own travel writings

This year, Nigel Foster's London Song Festival is exploring Friends and Lovers, programmes have included ones devoted to Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams, Franz Schubert and Johann Mayrhofer, and those to come include Samuel Coleridge Taylor and Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Benjamin Britten and W.H. Auden. 

On Friday 11 November 2022, the theme of the concert was the friendship of Hector Berlioz and Théophile Gautier. At Hinde Street Methodist Church, Clara Barbier Serrano (soprano), Lexie Moon (mezzo-soprano), Ben Vonberg-Clark (tenor), James Atkinson (baritone), Nigel Foster (piano) and Kevin Moore (speaker), presented a programme that mixed Berlioz' settings of Théophile Gautier with other settings of his poems by Faure, Falla, Viardot, Debussy, Chausson, Paladilhe, Duparc, Julies Bordier and Bizet, alongside Théophile Gautier's own words spoken by Kevin Moore.

Though we know Théophile Gautier as a poet, and his friendship with Berlioz was based on Berlioz' interest in Gautier's poems, during his lifetime Gautier was mainly known as a travel writer, so Nigel Foster's programme was divided into themed sections on travel with stops in Spain, Constantinople, China, Russia and Africa, along with sections on Young Love travelling in Spring, sadness and memories of those left behind. Gautier proved to be an engaging and witty writer and Foster's selection of his writings meshed beautifully with the songs.

Any successful society has music at its core: pianist Iyad Sughayer on his new music academy in Jordan

Iyad Sughayer (Photo Kaupo Kikkas)

The UK-based Jordanian pianist Iyad Sughayer first came to my attention when I heard him at a City Music Foundation recital in February 2020 [see my review], and since then he has developed quite a reputation. He is currently a YCAT artist and has released a pair of highly regarded discs of music by Khachaturian on BIS. Coming to the UK at the age of 14 to further his musical education, Iyad still has strong links to his homeland and, aware of the need to improve classical music opportunities for other Jordanian children, he has recently started a music academy, the Mashrek Academy of Music in Amman.

Iyad has always enjoyed teaching and admits that one of his ambitions was to have his own music school. During the pandemic, he found himself with rather too much time on his hands, whilst finding it hard to concentrate on practising. He advertised online lessons and found himself with several students from Jordan, and he came to realise that they needed an academic programme alongside their playing. 

Superb musical performances and theatrical dazzle do not quite add up to a satisfying staging of Handel's Alcina at Covent Garden

Handel: Alcina - Lisette Oropesa - Royal Opera (Photo ROH/Marc Brenner)

Handel: Alcina; Lisette Oropesa, Emily d'Angelo, Mary Bevan, Varduhi Abrahamyan, Rupert Charlesworth, Jose Coca Loza, Rafael Flutter, director: Richard Jones, conductor Christian Curnyn; Royal Opera House
Reviewed 10 November 2022 (★★★★)

Some superb musical performances help lift a production that seems to rather try too hard, but does manage some real theatrical glamour

The Royal Opera has periodically tried to do justice to the fact that Handel presented his final operatic seasons (1734-1741) at the 18th century predecessor to the present Covent Garden theatre, but the company has struggled to find a place for Handel's operas theatrically in the larger 19th century auditorium. There have been high points, but often the most satisfying Handelian opera performances at Covent Garden have been in the smaller, Linbury Theatre.

Handel's Alcina was premiered at Covent Garden in 1735, and the present Royal Opera company has tried to do justice to this. Zefferelli directed the opera at Covent Garden in 1962 with Joan Sutherland. An important milestone in the 20th century Handel revival, the production was evidently little more than a concert with gorgeous costumes. In 1993 there was a new production with a fine cast led by Yvonne Kenny, but the staging was theatrically inert. Director Stephen Wadsworth seemed to have decided to eschew magic completely and one reviewer commented that Alcina's island seemed to have been doused with agent orange.

Magic seems to be one of the problems with this opera. In an age when swords and sorcery epics are so popular, when a generation of children have grown up with Harry Potter, it seems odd that the theatrical world fails to embrace this. I am still waiting for a production of Alcina that follows the libretto, where she is a real sorceress, and the magic is an essential part of her armoury. Handel's Alcina is an Armida-like figure, someone all-powerful who finds that love does not respond to magic commands.

For its new production of Handel's Alcina, the Royal Opera chose Richard Jones as director. An intriguing choice, there is the suspicion that Jones' has become worryingly ubiquitous in London opera at the moment, what with La Boheme and Samson et Dalila at Covent Garden and The Valkyrie at the London Coliseum. But Jones has form with Handel, his 1994 production of Handel's Giulio Cesare at the Bavarian State Opera, featuring a huge dinosaur and Ann Murray in a kilt, created a sensation.

Handel: Alcina - Mary Bevan, Rupert Charlesworth - Royal Opera (Photo ROH/Marc Brenner)

His approach to Alcina is certainly full of similar such theatrical magic, and judging by the enthusiastic response from the audience, has definitely hit the spot. When we were there (10/11/2022), there seemed to be plenty of people in the audience unfamiliar with the structure of Baroque opera and keen to applaud at the ends of A sections and B sections of Da Capo arias. That these people could be made to be enthusiastic about Handel, to be tempted to explore further, is a glorious thing. And I came away from the performance wondering who it was for, and whether I wasn't really the intended audience.

We caught the second night of Richard Jones' production of Handel's Alcina at the Royal Opera on Thursday 10 November 2022. Christian Curnyn conducted and designs were by Anthony MacDonald, lighting by Lucy Carter, movement by Sarah Fahie. Lisette Oropesa was Alcina with Emily D'Angelo as Ruggiero, Mary Bevan as Morgana, Varduhi Abrahamyan as Bradamante, Rupert Charlesworth as Oronte, Jose Coca Loza as Atlante/Melisso and Rafael Flutter as Oberto. The production featured eleven dancers, but no chorus.

1000 releases and still counting: PARMA Recordings celebrates

PARMA Recordings is a New Hampshire-based record company run since 2008 by CEO Bob Lord. The company is Lord's brainchild, a vertically integrated music production company that would handle all aspects of the music-making process, spanning project development, contracting, in-studio recording and production, audio post, art design, manufacturing, distribution, publicity, publishing, licensing, live performance, and beyond.

The result is a catalogue that can highlight the small producers, and so has an idiosyncrasy that others lack, whilst many are highly personal projects for the artists. 

The company has recently celebrated the release of their 1000th disc, Amplify, on the Navona Records label, from All Classical Portland, consistently ranked in the top three classical music radio stations in the United States. The disc aims to be a response to the industry’s inequities in classical music recordings, and features music by Lauren McCall, Mélanie Hélène Bonis (1858-1937), Keyla Orozco, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004) and Jasmine Barnes.

Full details from Navona Records.

Music on the Moors

Ayriel Studios (Photo RecordProduction.com)

The cellist Jamie Walton launched North York Moors Chamber Music Festival in 2009. Twice shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award, the festival was one of the only organisations that went ahead as planned during the pandemic (in both 2020 and 2021), playing to socially distanced live audiences in a 5000 square foot acoustically adapted marquee. 

Now Walton has launched another project, he is artistic director of Ayriel Studios a new residential recording studio and creative retreat set within the spectacular landscape of the North York Moors National Park. Launched earlier this year, it has taken six years from inception to completion. The studio is in a large, converted barn, with three adjacent self-catering farm cottages that sleep up to 12 people, surrounded by stone-walled fields on one side and heather moorland on the other. It is a musical haven. 

The studio offers a bespoke service, including help with travel arrangements. Artists may stay on site and have everything taken care of, including home-cooked meals, so they can relax and focus fully on their project. 

Walton comments, "It seems to be working - pianist, Peter Donohoe, surprised himself by recording 17 sonatas in one visit, Viktoria Mullova and Alasdair Beatson recorded a disc of Schubert and finished early, and I recently recorded The Bach Suites in three days."

Full details from the studio's website.

Finally getting the recording it deserves: Meyerbeer's first French opera from Marc Minkowsky, Palazetto Bru Zane and Bordeaux Opera

Meyerbeer Robert le Diable; John Osborn, Nicolas Courjal, Amina Edris, Erin Morley, Nico Darmanin, Orchestra National de Bordeaux Aquitaine; Palazzetto Bru Zane
Reviewed 8 November 2022 (★★★★★)

Meyerbeer's first French opera finally receives the sort of modern recording that it deserves with a cast bringing flair and style to the music, along with Minkowski's intelligent direction.

Having recorded a selection of the byways of French grand opera, Palazzetto Bru Zane has finally taken the plunge and recorded one of the prime movers in the genre, Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable with forces from the Opéra National de Bordeaux, conducted by Marc Minkowski with John Osborn as Robert, Nicolas Courjal as Bertram, Amina Edris as Alice, Erin Morley as Isabelle and Nico Darmanin as Raimbaut.

Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable was the first of his large-scale French operas that ushered in the composer's effective domination of French Grand Opera genre. and created his international celebrity. Having spent eight years in Italy, Meyerbeer arrived in Paris in 1826 for the French premiere of his Italian opera Il crociato in Egitto and remained there. He did not throw himself into opera immediately, but finally he took the plunge with Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne as the librettists. Robert le Diable was originally planned as a three-act opera comique, but Meyerbeer persuaded Scribe to turn it into a five-act grand opera. This entailed some changes, reducing the essentially comic role of Raimbaut (who vanishes after Act Three in the final version). The opera premiered at the Paris Opera in 1831, following on from Auber's La muette de Portici (1828) and Rossini's Guillaume Tell (1829) to usher in a remarkable age of Grand Opera, with Auber's Gustave III (1833), Halevy's La Juive (1835) and Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots (1836).

Reinstate the English National Opera's ACE Funding immediately

If you haven't signed it already, please do so - Bryn Terfel has started a petition at Change.Org, calling on the Government to radically rethink removing the English National Opera as an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

Full details at Change.org

Friday was the last night of ENO's new production of Tosca and the cast chose to take their final bows defiantly wearing ENO's CHOOSE OPERA t-shirts.

ENO soloists appear wearing ‘Choose Opera’ t-shirts. Picture: Twitter @KathyLette