I am in the very fortunate position of having a recording of my organ music soon making its way to all good record shops and streaming services, which is all very exciting. However, it was in the negotiations with the record label about the artwork for the recording that I noticed something: all of the recordings of my music have moody pictures of the Lake District emblazoned on their front covers in varying shades of darkened hues. Nothing wrong with that per se, but my website is also full to the brim with similar pictures and many of my scores (self-published of course) carry similar depictions of my homeland. Now, anyone who has met me will know I am proud to come from the picturesque area of lakes and mountains in Northwest England, just below the border with Scotland, nestled between the Pennines and the Irish Sea – this is no secret. But it got me thinking about why are the pictures on the recordings? Why is it mentioned so fundamentally on my website? Why am I writing about it now? Basically, it got me thinking about identity and what it means to me and my place in the wider musical world, or even the increasingly small part of contemporary classical music where I ply my trade. What is musical identity?

I’m really looking forward to the release of Phillip Cooke: Organ Music on the Regent Records label on the 21 August this year. The recording was made by organist Ed Jones in Blackburn Cathedral in October 2024 and is almost all of my organ music from 2003-2024, including one of my earliest pieces, Elegy. I’ve written quite a lot for the instrument over the years, so it was wonderful to have the opportunity to bring these pieces together on such an amazing organ. And to have a organist such as Ed (who I have known for years) as such a willing advocate and dedicated performer was such a thrill. The release features small pieces, large pieces, some based on hymns, some on plainsong and some just for the love of the organ. There is lot of slow music, but there is also a lot of loud music. I hope people enjoy listening to it as much I did being at the recording.

I’ve paused The Music of John Tavener in 1988, mainly to do lots of marking and assessing at the university, but I’m hoping to have another chapter done before summer holidays. In the meantime, there are various performances, recordings and releases taking place in June. The university’s chamber choir will tour Alma Redemptoris Mater (2020) around Lisbon (8-11) whilst the University of Durham Chamber Choir will perform Three Partsongs (2008-12) in Durham on the 13th. The Graduati Singers will perform Regina Coeli (2021) in London (13/06) and the Choir of Oriel College, Oxford will record What Sudden Blaze of Song (2026) for an exciting forthcoming release. To cap the month off, Caritas Chamber Choir’s most recent recording is released (05/06) featuring two of my pieces, God Be in My Head (2025) and Everyone Sang (2024).

Much of my creativity in the early months of this year has been focussed on The Music of John Tavener, the monograph on the composer which I am currently three chapters and 30,000 words into! But there are a few composition things happening - performances of Ave Regina Caelorum in Northumberland, Evening Service in London as well as Dialogue on the organ of Carlisle Cathedral. Further afield there are performances of The World on Fire in Alberta and Salve Regina in Florida. Looking slightly further ahead is the premiere of Transfiguration (2022) for two pianos in Aberdeen in May, which should be a great occasion. Whilst I’m here, a quick shout out to Alex, who always enjoys this blog.

2025 ended up being a very special year with many interesting opportunities, peformances and projects. I had a quiet year at my university job, with the second half of the year being a sabbatical which I took full advantage of. There were performances all across the globe, some of which I managed to attend, the most exciting being the premiere of Missa Omnimum Sanctorum in Toronto in November. There were broadcasts on national radio in the UK, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands. Wonderful recordings from the Svanholm Singers and Oriel College, Oxford and new pieces in London, Cambridge, Harvard, Carlisle and Glasgow.

And the year finished with another broadcast, this time on Dutch national radio with Al is Alles Stil (2022) being broadcast on Panorama Zondag on the 28 December. The programme featured an interview with poet Vrouwkje Tuinman (who wrote the text for the piece) and the recording used was of the University of Aberdeen Chamber Choir from their November 2024 concert. It was nice to hear of this by the pool in the Canary Islands!