Groundbreaking European consortium commission announced
Groundbreaking European consortium commission announced
Edward Gregson will celebrate his 75th birthday in July 2020, and in a unique collaboration between five European partner countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and the UK) the composer has been commissioned to write a new work for their National brass band competitions in 2020/2021 – a fitting tribute to the impressive contribution he has made to the brass band repertoire over the last 50 years. The première performance will take place at the British Open in Birmingham in September 2020, followed by National premières in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland in the same year, …
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 …
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 …