Keep up to date with recent news about my work
On ‘What are you currently writing?’
Due to the wonders of COVID-19, it has been a long time since I have met another composer in the flesh, a long time since we welcomed another creator of original music to the university to give a talk, a seminar or to give tutorials. It has been a long time since we entertained another creative musician in the wonderful hostelries of Old Aberdeen Town, and all that entails. Now, you may be wondering why I am badgering on about this, whether I’m being nostalgic, sad or hankering for the on-campus experience denied to many academics.
Summer Round Up
I haven’t updated my website for quite a while (five months in fact), this being for two reasons: firstly, as I am in the process of transferring all this information to a new, all-singing-all-dancing website and secondly that not an awful lot has happened in these joyous months of 2020. However, some things have happened since April, so I guess I should do a sort of round up.
On Artists and Isolation (or Composers and the Coronavirus)
In the UK we are entering the end of our fourth week of ‘lockdown’ in which families and individuals are asked to stay in the their houses, to try to work from home and to avoid contact with other people at all times – you don’t need me to tell you about how unprecedented, challenging and destablising the whole situation is. But it is what it is, and it is for the safety and health of the nation, if not the world, that we isolate ourselves.
American Premiere of 'Ave Maria, mater Dei'
I was very pleased to find out recently that my motet Ave Maria, mater Dei (2017) was one of the winners of the ORTUS competition run by the Khorikos choir in New York.
The Month Ahead
January is a busy month of performances to begin the New Year, in fact it begins on New Year's Day with the Irish premiere of my Fourth Service (2018) at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.
Review of 2019
2019 was a busy, exhilarating, but often stressful year with lots of highs and lows. In my day job I continued as Head of Music at the University of Aberdeen and made some useful contributions.
On Morten Lauridsen's 'O Magnum Mysterium'...
Another year flies by and Christmas is upon us again with its gaudy mix of over-indulgence and introspection (with a cheery dose of political uncertainty added for extra measure).
The Month Ahead
There are a few performances (that I know about...) coming up in the Christmas period, some of which I will able to make. The first of which is the London premiere of my recent Salve Regina (2019) given by the City University Chamber Choir, conducted by Rory McCleery. This will take place at St Clement's Church, Finsbury, London, on the 04 December.
On Forgetting How to Write Music…
About a year ago I wrote a blog entry entitled ‘On Not Writing Music’ where I discussed how little music I had written that year and how strange it was for a ‘professional’ composer not to be composing. And I was left wondering how and when I would get back on the compositional horse. It was a classic.
The Month Ahead
Autumn is a busy time for performances and premieres across the world (and it isn't that often I can say that!). The 22 September sees the American premiere of my song cycle Lakesongs (2011) by Ellen Scholl, Matthew McBride-Daline and Kevin Bylsma in Toledo, Ohio with further performances in October.
'Fourth Service' in The Netherlands
It was really nice to hear that the Schola Liturgica Leeuwarden will be giving the Dutch premiere of my Fourth Service [St Pancras] this Sunday (08/09) at the Grote Of Jacobijner Kerk, Leeuwarden, conducted by Geke Bruining.
Book launches in Edinburgh, Cumnock and Aberdeen
This week I will be taking part in the first of three book launches for The Music of James MacMillan at Blackwell's Bookshop in Edinburgh - further book launches will take place at The Cumnock Tryst in October and at the SOUND festival in November.