BY BARNEY MEDL AND
THE NEWS New President and BTS Committee changes The BTS is delighted to announce Simon Minshall as the new President of the British Trombone Society. To Matthew Gee, the previous President, Simon offered ‘a huge thank you’ for his ‘leadership of our society over the last two years and during such uncertain times.’ We are pleased to report that Matthew will be remaining a member of the Committee. Simon is taking over leadership of the BTS at a time when we all hope the worst effects of the coronavirus pandemic are behind us and we can look forward to many in-person gatherings and live events. In his message to BTS members, Simon said: ‘trombones sound better in a group, and we are hoping to run some fantastic events in the very near future for you to attend and take part in, so please keep an eye out on the website.’ The other Committee changes are: Tom Lees (Chairman), Matt Gee (Vice-Chairman), Jane Salmon (Treasurer), and Jon Stokes (Vice-President). Thank you to Emily Watson for everything she has done for the BTS as she steps down from the Committee.
British Trombone Festival 2022 The BTS is delighted to announce that the first biennial British Trombone Festival will take place over the weekend of 29–30 October 2022, at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Ivors Composer Awards Nominations for Alex Paxton Composer and trombonist Alex Paxton has scooped several nominations at this year’s Ivors Composer 6
Awards. Each year the Ivors Academy presents Ivor Novello Awards for exceptional songwriting and composing. The awards are recognised as a pinnacle of achievement for composers and songwriters. The Ivors Composer Awards, in association with BBC Radio 3, are the awards for composers of classical and jazz music. Bye and Corncrack Dreams are both nominated in the Jazz Composition category and Sometimes Voices, for keyboard and drums, has been nominated for the award in the Small Chamber Composition category. The winners of the awards will be announced at an awards ceremony at the British Museum on 8 December. Readers may be interested in our interview with Alex Paxton published in the Spring 2021 edition The Trombonist.
RPS Award for Dani Howard In June, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, with Peter Moore as soloist, premièred Dani Howard’s Trombone Concerto (you can read our review of the concert here). Both the piece and the performance were widely praised by critics, with The Times hailing the concerto an ‘instant classic’. Dani Howard has been awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Large Scale Composition Award, ‘for an outstandingly imaginative and engaging largescale work receiving its first UK performance’. The RPS judges said: ‘Dani Howard’s captivating, cinematic Trombone Concerto is the sort of jewel that’s created when an orchestra – in this case, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic – makes a longstanding commitment to a composer. She writes intuitively for them, and equally for star soloist Peter Moore, brilliantly, sensitively calling upon all his virtuosity. Here is a much-needed new masterpiece for the
