It's always a pleasure to work with great performers, and Thomas Carr is certainly one of those! It was wonderful to hear him as the soloist in the premiere of my new concerto for clarinet & orchestra: Io with Newbury Symphony Orchestra this month on the 8th June. Thomas is an ex-student of St Bartholomew's School, and a number of current students from the school augmented the orchestra in this noisy evocation of Jupiter's volcanic and mysterious innermost moon.
It's also been great during June to be (finally) able to share some of the music I wrote for the MMTV production "Battle for the Kingdom", which I'm afraid to say will (probably) never see the light of day. Not really my "usual style", but this was great fun to write, and always good practice to spend some time tweaking virtual orchestra patches until they sound just right.
It was also great to take part in the wonderful Listen Imagine Compose Away Day. As well as appearing on the panel, and sharing my ideas about limitations and freedom in teaching composition, it was a great opportunity to work with music educators from across the country.
