Category: Events

Recorded at the premiere on 22 January by Farnborough Symphony Orchestra. Listen here.

FSO is grateful to the sound engineer and producer, Haresh Patel, for recording the premiere live.

FSO performed Mountain Hare in a Scottish themed concert that included Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture and Scottish Symphony.

Mountain Hare was inspired by my research into Mountain Hares in the Cairngorm mountains, Scotland, and was supported by a Finzi Trust Scholarship. There is also a version for violin, cello, piano and clarinet. Bill wrote a travel essay about the research process called Composing in the Cairngorms. You can read extracts from that, and about an intriguing disco ball metaphor for the hare here.

7.30pm, St Albans Cathedral, St Albans, AL1 1BY

A beautiful programme in the fabulous acoustic of the cathedral. We are joined by soprano, Jessica Cale, organist, Andrew Parnell, and Gloriana choir, under their director, Deborah Miles-Johnson. Tickets.

Poulenc: Ave verum corpus
Debussy: Nocturnes
Canteloube: Chants d’Auvergne
Faurè: Cantique de Jean Racine
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No.3, Organ Symphony

6.30pm, Great Hall, Sherfield Building West, Imperial College South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ

Rimsky-Korsakov, Capriccio Espagnol; Dvořák, Carnival Overture; Sibelius, Symphony No. 2 in D.

The students of Imperial College Sinfonietta celebrate their upcoming holidays with two glittering orchestral showpieces and Sibelius’s soaring second symphony. Advance tickets here (select ‘non-student tickets’ in the drop-down menu) for £8 or £9 on the door. Map here.

7.30pm, St Saviour’s Church, Sandpit Lane, St Albans AL1 4DF

Arnold, Clarinet Concerto  No.2 with Mark van de Wiel; Arnold, Symphony No. 5; Brahms, Symphony No. 3.

St Albans Symphony Orchestra (SASO) celebrates Malcolm Arnold’s centenary year with these two stunning works, in a programme designed by SASO’s much-missed principal conductor, Tom Hammond. It’s a great pleasure for us all to work with Mark van der Wiel, Principal Clarinet of the Philharmonia, in Arnold’s super jazzy concerto, written for Benny Goodman. Brahms’ third symphony rounds off an evening of uplifting and moving music-making. I’m honoured to be conducting SASO this season. Information and tickets here.

I have Covid so I’m very grateful to Orlando Jopling for stepping in to direct CCO this Saturday 26 Feb at St. Mary’s Church, Thame, 7:30pm

Arnold, Concerto  No.1 for Flute and String Orchestra  with Sirius Chau; Dag Wiren, Serenade for Strings; Sibelius, Suite Champetre; Janacek, Idyll for String Orchestra.

Beginning with a chance to hear the highly-acclaimed young flautist, Sirius Chau, the programme ends with a delicate Sibelius suite and an early work of Janacek that includes one of the most beautiful tunes in 5-time ever written.

The collaboration between Orlando and CCO will be stunning. Enjoy it with the loyal CCO audience in the beautiful accoustic of St Mary’s, Thame. Tickets and details. All the best to everyone for a fantastic concert. I look forward to reuniting with CCO soon!

Saturday 22 January, Princes Hall, Aldershot, GU11 1NX with Farnborough Symphony Orchestra.

Farnborough Symphony Orchestra is brilliant for performing contemporary music. Recent concerts have included works by Charlotte Bray, David Matthews and Elizabeth Winters. We are also proud to run the Farnborough Young Composers Competition.

I’m thrilled that FSO performed Mountain Hare in this Scottish themed concert which also included Mendelssohn’s Hebrides overture and his Scottish Symphony.

Mountain Hare was inspired by my research into mountain hares in the Cairngorm mountains, Scotland, and was supported by a Finzi Trust Scholarship. There is also a version for violin, cello, piano and clarinet. I also wrote a travel essay about the project called Composing with Hares. You can read extracts from that and about an intriguing disco ball metaphor for the hare here.

I am honoured to be an Ambassador for EcoClipper! This inspiring company has a vision for clean cargo shipping.

‘Ten years ago everybody thought it was crazy to transport goods in sailing ships. Now it is a rising trend for companies to watch their entire production chain for sustainability. Soon customers will demand clean transport…’ (EcoClipper website.)

If you are interested in joining the second round of investment contact Captain Jorne Langelaan and the EcoClipper office via the investment form. If you are interested in taking part in the sailing revolution here is a great article by Jess Clay of EcoClipper that includes a section on sail cargo.

Communications and website design for the Eco Sail sector. Farewell C&H. Welcome Guild of Ships!

I set up Clarity & Hart (C&H) in 2020 as part of the ecological concern of my total work. Our amazing team advised on communications, produced content and created websites for the Eco Sail sector. For example, we created Grayhound Shipping from scratch. We collaborated with eco sail companies in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, the UK and Central America. I was also honoured to work with the designer and performer extraordinaire, Taragh Bissett.

Through C&H, I made many friends in the Eco Sail community. I am now Co-founder and COO of Guild of Ships (GOS). GOS is a bookings and circular economy platform for the Eco Sail sector. We facilitate passenger and cargo bookings via the GOS booking platform, and we charge commission.

GOS is a true ‘guild’. Members join the guild for free (whether or not they use the booking system). They may also choose to recommend other GOS members and win a small commission. At the end of each year, the guild membership votes on how to allocate the GOS profits. For example, we may help a guild member in need; or we may set up the next ‘Guild of — ‘ for another environmentally responsible sector.

GOS is proud to be a member of Fair Winds Collective — an incredible community of companies who are changing the world one ship (and shipment) at a time. Read more about GOS and these other companies in the FWC magazine, ‘Set Sail with Purpose‘.

Bill introduces incredible pieces played by the Razumovsky Quartet

This is such a blast. The playing by Ellie Fagg, Tom Norris, Dorothea Vogel and Orlando Jopling is world-class and there is advice on food and wine to go with the music! The Raz Club is for people who enjoy great music, food, wine and the company of others. It’s a way of coming together with like-minded people to enable musicians to keep on making music and sharing it with others. I’m honoured to be there with the wine writer Nina Caplan.

Bill introduces a live-streamed lunchtime concert featuring Daniel King-Smith, piano

27 November, available online

Bill gives the introductory talk for this live-streamed recital given by undergraduates at Imperial College, London. He shares the background to the pieces, including a little about Liszt’s relationship with the writer, Comtesse Marie d’Goult, pen-name Daniel Stern.

Series hosted by Jonathan James, trustee

Bill was delighted to chat to Jonathan James about mountain hares and the composition process for Timidus. Timidus was funded by a Finzi Scholarship. Very happy to share a listing with Alice Barron!

Introducing lunchtime concert series at Imperial College, London

5 November 2020,  12.45pm

Concert available on YouTube. Bill gives an introductory talk (starting at 00:48) about the collaboration between Beethoven and violinist Franz Joseph Clement that produced this radiant and intimate concerto. I Musicanti perform it in an arrangement by Carl Hinde for string quintet, with soloist Tamás András.