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Working with Musical Directors, not just conductors

I was once invited to conduct a small chamber choir that met in a village church the other side of Swindon. I was handed some music when two people came to my house. Once I got started with them, I was given an access code to an online conversation wall where we exchanged messages. I found a comment from the woman who claimed she ran the choir. She wrote that the conductor is not a Musical Director, just a conductor. An event soon came up and I was told what the programme was. I looked at it, juggled the order of programme, and was promptly told the programme order had nothing to do with me - that was decided by the woman and her friend. I was just the conductor! I promptly withdrew from that choir and never returned. The person who conducts a choir is the Musical Director, which means they use their expertise and knowledge to programme concerts, weddings, services etc, and decide the order. I now sing in a chamber choir that has so far used four conductors to rehearse us in music that will be directed by a fifth person during a workshop. One of the conductors has a long service pedigree in organising concerts, is a harpsichordist and is a Master vocal trainer. The choir is 'run' by another woman who tells the conductors what to do. It is time that choir properly appointed the highly experienced conductor, allowed him to design programmes, rehearse those programmes, and get us performing in the church where he is also Musical Director, taking part in his Coffee concerts and Sacred Music Festival. There is a pub next door to the church, ideal for rehearsal evenings.

Promoting Young Choral Conductors

The British choral world is the least imaginative and least willing to step outside its comfort zone regarding repertoire. Anything risky is quickly steered away from and avoided. I have found the same with choral conductors in certain quarters where it is considered 'safe' to let older men run choral workshops rather than younger women. I have come across an exciting and busy young conductor called Sarah Latto. She studied music at Sydney Sussex College, Cambridge, and has conducted rehearsals, workshops and concerts with any number of choral groups. She is imaginative, vibrant and exciting, conducting and promoting new choral music by unknown living composers. Any serious choral group would want to engage with her energy and vibrancy. She should be booked at least for a workshop. I will be reaching out to her to discuss a workshop based on living composers from Gloucestershire, Bristol, Worcestershire and Wiltshire. That will be an original and rare occasion in opening out the work of our living composers in the Severnside region.

A Change in the Climate [Cantata in 6 movements]

A Change in the Climate is a cantata scored for chorus, four soloists [SATB], strings and harp, and is awaiting a first performance by a willing choir. The string ensemble can be as small as one desk per part, and one double bass. The four soloists can be drawn from the choir, although they should be well trained, with a firm tone and a good range. The poem by Edward Storey tells of a time when the Fen country of East Anglia will return to its original watery state. People once lived from fishing the waters that lapped around the edges of the Fenland islands. During the civil war between England and Scotland, Scottish prisoners of war were brought to East Anglia to dig trenches that would become dykes, draining the water and creating a newly built peat surface. Successive generations of Scottish immigrants have come to work the land, and each has moved on to other occupations. One day, each immigrant will return to the place they came from, and the area will have come full circle. The returning waters will once again provide a source of income, and the islands will regain their original purpose, some of them having housed monastic communities. The Isle of Ely is particularly known for monasticism. The cathedral there is a potent reminder of those days when Christianity first reached the shores of Britain. I have added words from the Office of Compline to create an extra spiritual dimension. The final 'Glory be to the Father..' submits to the supernatural forces of nature that will see those waters returning.

Music is about creative art and not just money

British choirs and orchestras who perform classical music have been hooked into finance as the centre of their thinking instead of thinking of their activities as the creation of art. The Arts Council, which these days is known as Arts Council England [or Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland], whilst wildly political these days, does fund creative groups across the country, thus making new work and work of considerable value financially viable. Choral societies and chamber choirs have always placed themselves outside of Arts funding because they only perform standard repertoire. If only they would engage with their local composers as creative artists, they could just put themselves in the loop for funding, and therefore programming new work by local composers would not be a financial risk.

Symphony No 4: A Blackbird in Quorn

CCA's Patron: JUDITH BINGHAM

In November 2014, the members of CCA were very pleased to have internationally recognised composer Judith Bingham as their new Patron to follow the late Sir Richard Rodney Bennett. This feature allows our visitors to view her biography and links to several of her works. We are honoured to have this Nottingham-born celebrated composer as our figurehead.

CCA Composer of the Month – OCTOBER 2014

Nicholas [Nick] Peters is the 21st CCA colleague in our series of Central Composers' Alliance's COMPOSER OF THE MONTH. In these features, you will learn more about each of our composers in turn and the music which they have chosen to represent their output – in this case you’ll see that Nick has composed music for a variety of creative projects, including works for theatre, contemporary dance, moving image (including interactive film) and site-specific installations. His recording of “Journey Deep, Deep River” uses remarkable digital recording techniques and is, therefore, a first for these featurettes. Nick has produced a comprehensive explanation of his piece and then he answers questions about his development and influences as a composer in great and fascinating detail. Embedded into his feature are videos which allow you to delve more deeply in the way Nick thinks and works.

THE WORLD PREMIÈRE OF "FIT FOR A KING"

Having recorded "Fit for a King" on the day Prince George was born in July, this was an opportunity to hear the whole work as a world première in a wonderful concert played by Serenata Winds.

On meeting John Tavener

In memory of British Composer John Tavener (1944 - 2013)

FIT FOR A KING - a new work to celebrate the birth of HRH Prince George

Fit for a King: Variations on the famous Welsh melody Sosban Fach written by members of the Central Composers’ in celebration of the birth of HRH Prince George of Cambridge, 22nd July 2013. Compiled by David Fisher and edited by Robert Ramskill. The theme was arranged by Robert Ramskill and the variations were by (the number after each name indicates which variation they wrote): Peter J Witchell [1 & 13]; Adrian Woolliscroft [2]; Margaret Vickery [3]; Colin Touchin [4]; Martin Watson [5]; John Middleton [6]; David Fisher [7]; John MacDonald Mackenzie [8]; Sonja Grossner [9]; Philip G Joy [10]; Kenneth Gange [11 & 14] & Clement Jewitt [12].

'The Seagull' motif

"Mirrors of Light" is work I’ve been immersed in for the last couple of years which has resulted in a piano sonata: Mirrors of Light 1, and a single movement piano work: Mirrors of Light 2, plus a multi-arts collaboration in the renowned and historic Reitstadl Hall, in Neumarkt, Germany and a recorded album of the same name. I’d like to share with you a story of how 'The Seagull’ became a motif in this creative journey and was used on the Mirrors of Light album cover.

THE YOUNG MAY MOON for Brass Quintet

This work for brass quintet was arranged from the original tune by D. J. Marshall and was set as a series of variations by eight members of the Central Composers' Alliance as part of the Millennium celebrations. The number after each name indicates which variation they wrote: Peter Crump [6], David Fisher [10], Kenneth Gange [8], Kerry Milan [3], Robert Ramskill [1 & 4], Frank Stiles [5], Terence Thompson [9] and Adrian Woolliscroft [Fanfare & 7].

MUSIC FOR A WHILE: the CCA CD

To commemorate the Millennium the Central Composers' Alliance collaborated with the hugely talented pianist Julian Hellaby and several other equally brilliant musicians to produce a CD which reflected the diverse composing styles of some of the members at the time. We produced the CD at ASC's studio in Macclesfield.

SIR RICHARD RODNEY BENNETT [March 26th 1936 - December 24th 2012]

The Central Composers' Alliance was very honoured to have as its Patron, the highly respected composer, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, who has been associated with our Alliance since its inception in 1995. Click on his name for an obituary of the great composer whose genres ranged from jazz to the avant-garde and film scores to symphonies.

ROMANCE, LEGEND & SONG: a CCA project & concert

ROMANCE, LEGEND & SONG was one of the Central Composers' Alliance's irregular workshops in which composers and performers come together to work on pieces in open rehearsal and performance. This project on February 28th 2009 involved the pianist Julian Hellaby with Clare-Louise Appleby [flute] and Jenny Saunders [soprano].