In February 2015, Edward Gregson will be the guest of the Norwegian Band Federation at the National Brass Band Championships to be held in Bergen. His work Of Distant Memories has been chosen as the test piece for the competition.

Edward has enjoyed a close relationship over many years with Norwegian musicians. Standards in the brass band scene in Norway are the strongest in Europe, so this invitation is a fitting celebration of this collaboration. …

In July 2015, Edward Gregson will celebrate his 70^th birthday, and this special year starts with a world première and a festival featuring six Gregson works.

The String Quartet, Gregson’s first, was commissioned by Manchester Mid-day Concerts Society to mark its centenary. It is a substantial work, lasting some 25 minutes, and is in three movements, the middle movement having the sub-title ‘Fantasia on a Chorale’. In the composer’s words ‘it returns to the models of late Beethoven and Bartok in its use of tightly controlled counterpoint, textural adventure, and structural unity.

The Navarra String Quartet will give …