News

Edward Gregson is to be the featured composer in the BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week series, which will broadcast next month. There will be five programmes, to be broadcast daily at 12 noon, from Monday 14 February.   Gregson’s music will be featured alongside that of his composition teacher Alan Bush, with whom he studied … Continued

An early work by Edward Gregson, his ‘Concertante for piano and brass band’, written when he was only 20, has been recorded recently at a session at Leeds Conservatoire by Jonathan Scott (piano) and Black Dyke Band, conducted by Nicholas Childs.  The composer, remembering the days when he played the piece himself, was present at … Continued

Recording sessions for a new CD to be released on the Naxos label were held in London in November of Edward Gregson’s chamber music.  The disk will feature performances by the Navarra String Quartet (newly re-formed) of the two string quartets, and other works by soloists Alison Teale (cor anglais), Rob Buckland (saxophone) and Ben … Continued

Edward Gregson was recently interviewed by Martin Gorman of Brasspass TV about his new work The World Rejoicing’, the test piece for the British Open Brass Band Championship, which will be premiered on 11 September at Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Edward and Martin discuss the the inspiration for the piece, a collaborative commission by five European … Continued

Edward Gregson’s previously unpublished piece, Birthday Prelude for Brass Band, composed in 1982 to mark the 80th birthday of Harry Mortimer,  and performed again in 2015 at the North American Brass Band Championships to celebrate the 80th birthday of Gregson’s brother, Bram, has now been published by Morthanveld Publishing, with a dedication to Harry and … Continued

A new disc of Edward Gregson’s instrumental music is to be released on Friday 9 April on the Naxos label.  The CD was recorded in September 2020 at Hallé St Peter’s in Manchester, with soloists from the Hallé and BBC Philharmonic orchestras, accompanied by pianist Paul Janes. Regarding the choice of repertoire, which includes Three … Continued

Few sounds elicit the same drama, joy, excitement, and vibrancy as does the United States Marine Band’s brass section. Available to watch online from 25 March,  This concert features the antiphonal music of Giovanni Gabrieli, Franz Beibl, Henri Tomasi’s  and concludes with Edward Gregson’s electrifying 2012 composition: Symphony in Two Movements. Concert Web Page

Read Edward Gregson’s Coup de Coeur, collated by Philippe Berrut.   A comprehensive autobiography, discography and ‘fun facts’ section, followed by  tributes from the great and the good of the music world. Mon Coup de Coeur

The premiere of Edward Gregson’s test piece The World Rejoicing, commissioned by five countries for their National Brass Band competitions, has been postponed for a year because of the ongoing uncertain situation with the Covic-19 pandemic.  The premiere will now take place in Birmingham (at The British Open) in September 2021, followed by the various … Continued

Edward Gregson will be interviewed by Sean Rafferty on BBC Radio 3’s live drive-time programme, In Tune, on Wednesday 16 September at approximately 17.15. The programme is streamed live on the BBC Radio 3 website and will be available as ‘audio on demand’ for 30 days after the broadcast

Edward Gregson’s new Naxos CD recording, Complete Music for Solo Piano is being released today and features celebrated pianist Murray McLachlan (making his debut on the Naxos label).  The recording was made at The Stoller Hall in Manchester in January 2020. Murray McLachlan says of Edward Gregson’s piano music that ‘he knows the importance of … Continued

A recording of the premiere performance of Edward Gregson’s The Salamander and the Moonraker (story and text by Susan Gregson), given on 1 July 2018 at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, is now available to view.  The composer was honoured to receive an Ivors Academy Composer Award for this work in 2019. The premiere was given by … Continued

Listen to a discussion between Mark Good, editor of British Bandsman, and Edward Gregson as he chats about what he calls ‘the obsession with contesting’ and how it’s time to rebalance our thinking in order to ensure that bands can rightly be taken seriously in the wider musical world. The podcast is now live and  … Continued

BBC Radio 3 is to broadcast two concerts featuring works by Edward Gregson performed by the BBC Philharmonic and conducted by Ben Gernon. On Monday 29 June you can hear a performance of the Euphonium Concerto with soloist David Childs, and on Tuesday 30 June the premiere performance of A Vision in a Dream (concerto … Continued

  The premiere of Edward Gregson’s ‘A Vision in a Dream – Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra’ was performed by soloist Jennifer Galloway, accompanied by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Ben Gernon, at Leeds Town Hall on Saturday 8 February.

Edward Gregson has composed ‘Notes Between Friends’, commissioned by the BBC for Radio 4’s PM programme, a piece he says has both European and British dimensions. In 1973, Gregson wrote a brass piece named ‘Fanfare for Europe’ when the UK joined the EU’s forerunner the European Economic Community.  He says this new work, written to … Continued

Photo: Mark Allan Edward Gregson has won the award in the category of original composition for ‘Amateur or Young Performers’ at The Ivors Composer Awards 2019, for The Salamander and the Moonraker – An Adventure Story in Music, which received its premiere in July 2018 at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, performed by the Hallé … Continued

The recently released Chandos CD The Symphonic Euphonium II, which features a performance by David Childs of Gregson’s Euphonium Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Ben Gernon, has received the award of Solo CD of the Year by Brass Band World magazine. David studied at the Royal Northern College of Music when Edward Gregson … Continued

Read more about the preparations to mark Edward Gregson’s 75th birthday year in this article published by his publisher, Novello. Edward Gregson 75 in 2020