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WELCOME
CONTENTS Welcome
3
Membership Developments
4
Composition Marathon… the race continues
6
Cello Multitracks
8
Sonica and Musical Bites
10
Exposed Melodies
18
Opportunities
19
Obituary
20
Next Issue
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We may be experiencing the dreichest summer in years; however, the sun is still shining for the members of the Scottish Music Centre! We have received excellent feedback on the latest projects and performances programmed and developed by those involved in our inaugural Composition Marathon and I am pleased to report that this ‘spin-off’ has generated numerous benefits for our entire membership, with an increasing number of organisations approaching us for invaluable recommendations and introductions, as well as releasing exclusive calls and opportunities. Additionally, I am thrilled to announce that we recently received funding from PRS for Music Foundation, which will allow us to successfully continue, develop and expand this unique project well into 2013. We gladly welcomed another new face to the Scottish Music Centre last month, Alison Smith of Maxwell Music, our newest individual member. However, we also had to bid a sorrowful farewell to the wonderfully gifted musician and treasured colleague, Sam Hutchings who tragically died at the age of 29 – our thoughts remain with his family and friends throughout this very difficult time. Our next issue will be released in the autumn, but there are plenty of exciting announcements to look forward to over the coming weeks, including dates and plans for our forthcoming Members’ Reception, so be sure to watch this space! Christopher Glasgow Digest Administrator
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MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENTS Since the launch of our Composers’ Digest and Exposed Melodies podcast series, we are pleased to announce fantastic progress and developments relating to the support and services we can offer our individual, group/small business and corporate members. We have now doubled our outreach in terms of those working in contemporary classical music in Scotland and out of the 200 composers we are currently in contact with, almost half are members of the centre and the majority of others are involved at varying levels. As part of the next stage in these developments, we are launching a new campaign which best utilises our member profiles. All pages have now been successfully updated and as of Monday 23rd July, every member will have a dedicated day for concentrated promotion of their work and achievements. In addition to our own services, we are continually working to establish new and valuable partnerships with key groups and organisations, most recently, with New Music Scotland.
Featured Network: New Music Scotland
NMS is a network that brings together performers, composers and promoters of new music in Scotland, to: • • • •
Create a context for dialogues between practitioners and new work. Share ideas of best practice. Promote the diversity of new music and sound art. Create and maintain a supportive environment for innovation.
Featured Event: NMS at 2011 sound festival
In 2011, NMS presented its inaugural conference and showcase as part of sound festival in Aberdeen, in the form of an inspiring weekend of performances, talks and discussions featuring Scotland’s best in new music and sound art. With participants and delegates attending from across the UK and beyond, the weekend was aimed at bringing the new music sector together to network, discuss how to bring new music to new audiences and to share their music with others. This biennial event will next take place at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow in 2013. NMS also runs a monthly bulletin for new music events and opportunities taking place in Scotland and further a field. To subscribe to the bulletin, please visit: http://bit.ly/HhDn0w To submit a listing to the bulletin, contributors should complete the submission form here: http://bit.ly/Msrrv5
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COMPOSITION MARATHON… THE RACE CONTINUES! Following the success of our inaugural Composition Marathon which ran over 24th and 25th March 2012, the Scottish Music Centre are delighted to announce that the race will continue well into 2013 owing to the support of PRS for Music Foundation. Inspired by Bang On A Can’s iconic Performance Marathons, born out of a wish to unite New York’s diverse musical communities, this project was introduced to place primary focus on the composers, engaging them permanently with the centre and aiming to generate future commissioning and performance opportunities. The Scottish Music Centre continues to support all who were involved in this project and are pleased to report on the wealth of resulting achievements and triumphs…
Featured Organisation: PRS for Music Foundation
Immediately following the project, we established a new and exciting partnership with the Glasgay! Festival, assisting as music advisors for their 2014 Commonwealth Voices commissioning strand. This allowed for direct recommendations and introductions for those involved in the marathon, followed by a full call for proposals issued to several hundred Scottish composers, chamber ensembles and soloists.
We have built on our close relationship with cellist and composer Peter Gregson to promote and sell his latest album with Gabriel Prokofiev, Cello Multitracks, released on the London based Nonclassical label. This has established a beneficial dialogue with the latter, with future projects and collaborations currently in discussion. Eve Harrison, has continued to work with Ensemble Thing who have gone on to perform her marathon work, for more things affect our eyes than our ears at the Risuona Verona Music Festival in Italy and headlined Later… with Sounds of the Engine House, a concert series co-directed by the composer. Eve now hopes to write a more substantial work for the ensemble within the next year. Chris Hutchings won the New London Singers Composition Prize for his work Speravi in Te, which was performed at Kings Place, London on 5th June. He now has several exciting commissions, performances and recordings to look forward to over the course of the next six months, most notably with Live Music Now’s Pure Brass who, having performed his new work, Seeds, during the marathon, are looking to programme more contemporary Scottish music. Claire McCue has continued to work with Calum Huggan, percussionist with Live Music Now’s duo, Flercussion. In June they worked together for the performance of the composer’s new work, Charged: =/-, a collaboration with choreographer Anna Clifford involving four dancers, electric and acoustic violin, percussion and electronic backing. Claire also credits Pure Brass’ inspiring marathon performance in prompting her to write for the Cottier Chamber Project’s composition competition, which she proceeded to win. Finally, Matthew Whiteside has expanded Bucephalus, composed for the marathon to Cacoxen for Piano Trio,
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which was premièred in Dublin’s National Concert Hall on 18th July as part of the Irish Composers’ Collective concert. This was followed by a performance of the first movement of his Dichroic Light in the Gallery of Photography, Dublin on 22nd July.
Gabriel Prokofiev is a composer and producer who has attracted global attention for his refreshingly original voice, informed both by his classical training and an enthusiasm for modern dance music. His Concerto for Turntables & Orchestra received rave reviews at the 2011 BBC Proms, and his recent Concerto for Bass Drum was applauded by the New York Times at its world première earlier this year. Following the release of the Jerk Driver single, Nonclassical are delighted to announce this full length album from Gabriel and Peter. Cello Multitracks is a suite of contrasting movements for nine layered cello parts, composed by Prokofiev and performed by Gregson.
Featured Ensemble: Pure Brass
Planning is well underway for the 2013 Scottish Music Centre Composition Marathon, which will be launched in the autumn. In the meantime, you can view this year’s enthralling performance online in the official recording produced by Julien Lonchamp and Claudine Quinn of Lens on Legs: http://bit.ly/OOkqUc
The CD brings together the original suite and nine remixes by producers including Tim Exile (Warp), DJ Spooky, and Prokofiev himself.
CELLO MULTITRACKS As mentioned previously, the Scottish Music Centre are delighted to be developing their close working relationship with member Peter Gregson and by extension, composer and founder of the innovative Nonclassical label, Gabriel Prokofiev. Peter is one of the leading lights of an emerging generation of performers, engaging with new technologies and crossing genre boundaries, while always retaining an outstanding level of musicianship. He works closely with the New England Conservatory, and has premièred works by Steve Reich, Joby Talbot, and many others.
Featured Album: Cello Multitracks
Cello Multitracks is now available for purchase in the Scottish Music Centre Online Shop: http://bit.ly/LXooPg
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SONICA 2012 The Scottish Music Centre are working with and supporting valued and long-standing group/small business members, Cryptic on Sonica, their inaugural Glasgow-wide celebration of international sonic art running from 8th - 18th November 2012. Throughout this event, they are running a Public Engagement Programme, which will take place from 18th October, and they are looking for cutting edge sound works to potentially feature. A call for submissions has been arranged exclusively for our members and we would encourage you to consider a proposal for such an exciting and innovative project.
work including any technical specifications to kim@makeshifthappen.info before Wednesday 25th July 2012 to be considered for the programme.
Featured Work: Extended Play, Janek Schaefer
http://cryptic.org.uk http://sonic-a.co.uk #sonica2012
MUSICAL BITES Derek Ball
Featured Work: Our Contemporaries, Mookyoung Shin
Combining workshops and activities which will be free to access, the Sonica Public Engagement Programme seeks to demystify sonic arts through participation and exploration of music and sound and where they meet other art-forms and disciplines such as performance, technology and science. Do you have a piece of work that fits the bill? Have you created something that opens up sound and music to the uninitiated? If so, Cryptic would love to hear from you. Please send a 250 word introduction to your piece of
Derek is spending the summer in Donegal writing an Irishlanguage opera with Cathal Ó Searcaigh, thanks to a development grant from the Irish Arts Council. Cathal is one of the big names in Irish poetry, some would say the biggest, and his lyrical writing is ideal for music. Andrew Cruickshank Andrew’s score for Plutôt La Vie’s By the Seat of Your Pants has been heard throughout the country as the company toured Scotland from the Imaginate to St Magnus Festival. Andrew has recently started a new collaboration with Rachel Jury. This new production, Music of Strangers, traces stories of the Roma people, and is due to be
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performed at the Tron Theatre in October. The structure of the work draws on the oratorio tradition. http://www.andrewcruickshank.com James V. Conn
David Paul Jones Award-winning, composer, pianist and vocalist, David, returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with the revival of his song collection, Palmstar Poppy – Songs in Search of Love Lost at Sea. Through a cycle of nine songs, presented as an intimate solo vocal and piano performance, David recounts a tender and enigmatic tale of a seafarer’s lone voyage across uncharted seas, aboard his ship, ‘The Palmstar Poppy’. A seafarer boards his ship, The Palmstar Poppy, in search of the legendary land of Woop-Woop, a wonderland believed to exist somewhere beneath the great oceans. His voyage is sparked by a voice heard in his dreams, inviting him to sail south to Wishsong Bay, where he is to follow the sun and look for the place where the last rains of WoopWoop fall…
Featured Composer: David Paul Jones
Palmstar Poppy reveals David’s flair and passion for contemporary song writing. His hauntingly emotive soundworlds are composed of intricate vocal melodies that rise and fall against a backdrop of shimmering piano textures, formed from an evocative and sparse harmonic language. His trademark sound-poetry lyrics conjure up imaginary and and atmospheric worlds, highlighting his exploration of music as ‘theatre for the ears’.
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David has been performing in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for over 15 years and is perhaps best known to Fringe audiences for his soundtracks and live performances to multi-award winning productions with Grid Iron – Those Eyes That Mouth (2003), The Devil’s Larder (2005), Barflies (2009) and What Remains (2011). He was awarded the prestigious Glenfiddich Spirit Of Scotland Award For Music in 2011, nominated alongside King Creosote, Emeli Sandé and Primal Scream. Palmstar Poppy will be presented in a live theatre/cabaret setting at the Barony Bar in Edinburgh’s New Town, home of Grid Iron’s smash-hit 2009 Fringe production, Barflies. 2nd (Preview), 3rd – 9th, 12th – 16th, 19th – 23rd, 26th – 27th August, Barony Bar, Edinburgh
John McLeod This summer sees the London première of John’s little Chinese opera Thrashing the Sea God - it will be given two performances at this year's Tête à Tête Opera Festival in a new realisation by Kally Lloyd-Jones. As with its Scottish première last April in Edinburgh (promoted by ecat), the performer will be the sensational internationally acclaimed percussionist Joby Burgess who sings and plays his way through the story on a massive array of instruments in the character, costume and mask of a Cantonese operatic soprano (male). It received a 5 star review from Conrad Wilson in The Herald after its Scottish première last year and has recently been hailed as an extra ordinary and powerful work of colour and virtuosity. 9th and 10th August, Riverside Studios, London
http://www.davidpauljones.com Edward McGuire The Sorros Guitar Duo, Phillip Thorne and Selina Madeley present a new take on the Four Seasons theme with the world première of Eddie’s The Seasons, consisting of Summer Stars, Autumn Moon, Winter Winds and Spring Flowers. This concert also features Before Winter Winds by John Maxwell Geddes and Pas de Quoi by Thomas Wilson. 12th and 14th August, St Mark’s Art Space, Edinburgh In the beautiful combination of clarinet, violin and piano, the truly exceptional and sublime Zodiac Trio perform Eddieʼs Reflections and Elegiac Waltz in a concert which also includes new works by Graham Hair and Scottish-American composer Margaret McAllister. 19th August, Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh
Featured Performer: Joby Burgess
At this year's British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) elections, John was elected to the Concert/Jazz Executive and looks forward to representing Scotland on that body. http://www.johnmcleod.uk.com
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Marc Yeats Following the highly successful launch of the SATSYMPH on a theme of Hermes contemporary music and poetry app in Poole and Bristol, Marc and his team are concentrating on promoting the portable iteration of 'Hermes' that can be installed in any park, anywhere in the world as it uses GPS (not phone signals) to operate. This highly innovative interactive music and word experience is available for free download on iPhone, iPad (GPS enabled) and android phones.
Find out more here: http://sturzstromcoastalvoices.posterous.com worship of the oak, a substantial 20 minute new work is being premièred by the Aquinas Piano Trio as part of the Manchester Pride Classical Concert Series of which Marc is composer-in-association. 20th August, Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, The Martin Harris Centre, Manchester University http://www.manchesterpride.com Ethos, commissioned by Dirk Amrein received its world première at the British Trombone Society National Trombone Festival on 26th May at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. Listen to the studio recording: http://marc-yeats.co.uk/2012/02/ethos-2012
Featured Artists: Phill Phelps, Marc Yeats and Ralph Hoyte
Find out more and download the app for free here: http://satsymph.co.uk Marc's sturzstrom, (a landslide event for voices) was premièred on 1st June to a capacity audience and rapturous applause at Beer Quarry Caves. The final performance is programmed for the end of July in the ICCI360˚ Arena, Weymouth as part of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic sailing events in Weymouth and Portland. The choir will perform in an environment of Marc's specially created 360˚ video projection fly-over of the Jurassic Coast with 6.0 surround-sound. A studio recording of the piece will be released following this performance. 27th July, ICCI360˚ Arena, Weymouth
Marc has recently completed a commission for the Antara Project. pathos for violoncello solo was composed last month and is to be recorded on the Antara label late autumn by cellist Patrick Johnson. http://marc-yeats.co.uk/2012/06/pathos-2012
Featured Performance: sturzstrom, Beer Quarry Caves
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EXPOSED MELODIES
OPPORTUNITIES
As is the case with our membership developments, we are currently in the process of expanding our Exposed Melodies podcast series and are seeking to interview more industry contacts who could offer valuable advice in relation to commissioning, programming and promoting, rather than solely focussing on the art of composition.
Opus 13 – Britten Sinfonia
Our next release will feature Helen McVey of Enterprise Music Scotland and Carol Main of Live Music Now in conversation.
Britten Sinfonia At Lunch commissions four composers each year to write a piece for chamber ensemble. Previous recipients of commissions range from young composers like Luke Bedford and Charlie Piper to established names such as Judith Weir and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.
Featured Organisation: Enterprise Music Scotland
In the meantime, why not tune into our previous recordings featuring Rory Boyle, John Maxwell Geddes, John McLeod, Cathie Boyd, Edward McGuire, Julian Wagstaff, Alex Smoke and Oliver Searle? http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com/exposed_melodies
Opus 2013 is an exciting new project offering unpublished composers the chance to receive a professional commission as part of the Britten Sinfonia’s award-winning At Lunch series.
For the first time, they are issuing an open call for submissions, with the aim of commissioning an as-yet unpublished composer to write for the ensemble in April 2013. The instrumentation will be oboe, harp and string quartet. DEADLINE: 24th August 2012 http://www.brittensinfonia.com/creative-learning Phonologia Prize - Fondazione Culturale of San Fedele Through the Phonologia Prize, dedicated to electronic music, the Cultural Foundation of San Fedele aims to annually promote the artistic production of high quality, new musical works.
Featured Organisation: Live Music Now
The prize affords young composers a professional environment in which to create new works for performance with the Acusmonium SATOR of San Fedele. Over the course of the year, applicants will be accompanied by Luigi Ceccarelli, Giovanni Cospito, François Donato and Luis Naon.
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DEADLINE: 10th September 2012 http://bit.ly/NBS2p0 Queen Elizabeth International Music Competition The Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium is holding a composition competition, which will take place in the month of December 2012. The purpose of this competition is to select the work that will be compulsory for participants in the final of the same organisation's Piano Competition in 2013.
and Drama where he later worked as an accompanist and general assessor for the Junior Conservatoire. His association with the Edinburgh International Festival continued unbroken thereafter. As Queen’s Hall Concerts Manager from 2004-2011, he was responsible for looking after artists involved in around 150 concerts.
DEADLINE: 31st October 2012 http://cand.qeimc.be
OBITUARY Sam Hutchings, 1982-2012 Sam Hutchings, who died tragically at the age of 29, was a wonderfully gifted musician and a treasured colleague. Educated at the Edinburgh Academy, where he studied piano with Heida Hallgrimsson, he went on to win 1st Class Honours in Music at Christ Church, Oxford. On his return to Edinburgh in summer 2003 he became involved in the Edinburgh International Festival at very short (12 hours!) notice as the offstage pianist for Cillian Murphy to mime to in Peter Stein’s production of Chekhov’s Seagull. As was always the case with Sam he was brilliant and unobtrusive, took it all in his stride and everyone fell in love with him. He then went on to study for a Diploma in piano accompaniment at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music
Featured Performer: Sam Hutchings
He became rehearsal pianist to the Edinburgh Festival Chorus in 2006 forming a celebrated double act in 2007 with EFC Chorusmaster Christopher Bell, which he reprised frequently for the National Youth Choir of Scotland. In June this year he led EIF’s ground-breaking Love in a Library project both as musical director and pianist. He was very closely associated with the RSNO, fulfilling the role of rehearsal pianist for the RSNO Chorus and RSNO Junior Chorus as well as occasionally performing as an orchestral pianist with the RSNO itself. He was very self-effacing, something which disguised the fact that he could sight-read with amazing facility and never seemed to find anything technically challenging. His attention to detail was remarkable (frequently scrutinising contemporary scores to check for errors and inconsistencies) and his technical skill sometimes startling – with NYCoS most recently he acted as rehearsal pianist for music by Richard Rodney Bennett, seamlessly and
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effectively telescoping music for two pianists. He was a particularly sensitive accompanist to singers. Following a masterclass at the Edinburgh International Festival, he was invited to become a staff pianist at Malcolm Martineau’s Oxenfoord International Summer School. He was involved in many memorable song recitals including most recently at the Lammermuir Festival, Perth Concert Hall and Music at Paxton. Sam developed a close association with Live Music Now whose musicians are accepted not only on the basis of their musical talent, but also of their personalities and abilities to communicate with a wide range of people throughout different communities. Firstly in a duo with Anna Klara Georgsdottir, and more recently with Emma Versteeg, Sam contributed greatly to LMN’s work. Together they performed for many different audiences who would otherwise have been unable to experience high quality live music. The genuine warmth he extended quietly to people was as much appreciated as his music-making. Concert venues ranged from care homes to public venues, such as the National Gallery of Scotland, with the last one being as part of LMN’s Emerging Artists series at the Usher Hall. A key member of Daniel’s Beard, the Glasgow-based chamber group, Sam's patience and sensitivity made him the ideal chamber music partner. He participated in the première recording of Thomas Wilson's Complementi as well as taking part in memorable performances of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, Janacek's Concertino and Bartok's Contrasts - fiendish piano parts, which Sam met with a wry chuckle and oh well...it should be fine, which, of course, it always was. Those of us who knew and worked with Sam realised that behind the almost cherubic expression there lurked a splendidly impish sense of humour. Who else would have
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had an email address made up of a composer and his date of birth? Especially when that composer was Scriabin - a man who one feels the Edinburgh Academy might not entirely have approved of! Above all, he was just a joy to be with – a truly wonderful colleague and great company when off duty. One only has to look at the expressions of disbelieving grief his sudden death has elicited to realise the huge impact this gentle, shy man had on those he touched. Music in Scotland will have to live with the pain of a Sam Hutchings shaped hole. Sam was just special. (Christopher Bell, Carol Main, Andy Saunders, James Waters and others)
Featured Performance: Sam performing as part of Daniel’s Beard in the Scottish Music Centre Composition Marathon
NEXT ISSUE – OCTOBER 2012