One of the highlights of Manchester Mid-day Concerts Society’s centenary season was the world premiere of Edward Gregson’s String Quartet, performed by the Navarra Quartet at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester on 14 January.

It is an extraordinary work, both gritty and serene. Its three movements are packed with ideas – fugues, variations, cadenzas, a chorale and a march – and he never gives you a dull moment.

The elements that most entranced me … were the sheer singing beauty of the first movement’s ethereal second theme (and of another lovely violin melody in the finale), the nostalgic atmosphere of the …

Edward Gregson returns to Toronto for the third time as guest composer and conductor of the Hannaford Street Silver Band at the 2015 Festival of Brass weekend.

The concert on 19 April will feature a number of Gregson works, including his 2013 test piece Of Distant Memories and the Trombone Concerto, which will be performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Trombonist, Gordon Wolfe.

The Hannaford Street Silver Band is a professional brass band based in Toronto and is made up of some of the finest brass players in that city and beyond.…

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 …