Swiss Premiere of Gregson’s Saxophone Concerto with Jess Gillam

Edward Gregson‘s Saxophone Concerto is to be given its Swiss premiere by the young and highly-acclaimed British saxophonist Jess Gillam. She joins the Argovia Philharmonic and their chief conductor Douglas Bostock in three concerts beginning on 23 September  at the Kultur & Kongresshaus, Aarau and the Trafo-Halle, Baden. The concerto will form part of an all-English program entitled ‘England A-hoy!’ to honour the eighteen-year career of the British-born Bostock with the symphony orchestra.

Jess Gillam is fast becoming one of the most in-demand and recognisable names in contemporary classical music. She became the first saxophonist to reach the final of …

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World premiere of The Salamander and the Moonraker (An Adventure Story in Music)

The Hallé Orchestra and Children’s Choir will perform the world premiere of The Salamander and the Moonraker (An Adventure Story in Music) on Sunday 1 July at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.

Finding the correct balance between the forces in this large-scale piece is just one of the challenges relished by its composer, Edward Gregson. You can read about this work (with story and text by the composer’s wife Susan) in an article by Christian Morris for Composition:Today here.

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‘An Age of Kings’ in Manchester

The RNCM Brass Band, conducted by Nicholas Childs, will perform Edward Gregson’s large-scale, Shakespearean-inspired work, An Age of Kings, in the RNCM Concert Hall on 7 June at 6pm.

This dramatic work is scored for augmented brass band, with the addition of harp, piano, mezzo-soprano solo, male chorus, as well as two off-stage trumpets. The Concert Hall at the RNCM is ideally suited for the antiphonal effect of the off-stage trumpets in the first movement, and the atmospheric trumpet fanfares and horn calls in the final movement, depicting Henry IV’s defeat of the rebellious forces, will bring the performance to …

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Edward Gregson – out and about

March was a busy month in Edward Gregson’s diary.  He travelled to Trondheim, Norway, to adjudicate the Norwegian National Wind Band Championships, commenting that:

“The standard of wind playing in Norway is extraordinarily high, and in the Elite section the quality of both performance and programming was of a professional standard.  The winning ensemble, the Christiania Blåseenemble from Oslo, conducted by Rolf Gupta, played four movements from Messiaen’s demanding Et Expecto Ressurectionem, as well as John Adam’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine, to an extremely high level, and were worthy winners.  I gather the ensemble is made up of

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