James Gilchrist and I recently gave a recital as part of a special weekend at Snape Maltings focussing on the work of Imogen Holst – daughter of the celebrated composer Gustav, music assistant to Benjamin Britten, and distinguished composer in her own right. Women composers featured prominently in our programming, with works by Holst herself, Maconchy, and Priaulx Rainier. Music by John Ireland, Gustav Holst and Britten’s ‘Canticle I’ completed a very special evening.
Month: October 2021
The Alwyn Music Festival
Thank you so much to those who joined us for the 2021 Alwyn Music Festival last weekend, and to all our helpers and volunteers who made it such a great success.
It was absolutely wonderful to be back at our beautiful Suffolk venues, hearing live music in person once again. Our artists were all on splendid form, and audience numbers were strong, with several concerts selling out. Combined with some brisk walks in the beautiful Suffolk autumnal weather, it was all in all a balmy and blissful weekend!
Highlights included several works by living composers, including three world premieres: Elis Pehkonen’s Aphrodite for two pianos, percussion, soundscape and narrator, my new work for piano quartet, and Christopher Brown’s Preludes and Fugues for solo piano. Other living composers featured were Peter Hope, John Purser, Rafael Marino Arcaro, Lloyd Moore, as well as several British 20th century composers, including Frank Bridge, Doreen Carwithen, Madeleine Dring, Rebecca Clarke, and of course William Alwyn.