Nathan’s latest work is a new opera – The Quest – commissioned by London Youth Opera, to a libretto by Megg Nicol. It will be premiered on 14th and 15th December 2024 at the Shaw Theatre, London, with a cast of 45 performers aged 9 to 18 trained and supported by a full professional creative team, led by music director Alastair Chilvers and director Madeleine Allegra Brooks.
Inspired by Auden and Isherwood, The Quest depicts a group of young people who, against a backdrop of social media, fake news and malign political influences, have to make a choice between power, fame and personal fortune and integrity, true friendship, and the greater good.
Stan and Gretchen, the chosen two, join a group of brilliant young scientists who believe they are on the cusp of solving the world’s environmental problems and saving the planet. But are these scientists more than they appear? Were they chosen for this Quest by some higher force? And will they stay true to their destiny and fulfil their promise to humanity, or will their heads be turned by the fame and fortune offered to them by alluring but corrupt politicians?
Click here for more information, including a short film from rehearsals…
Other recent work:
Grey and Green are all my Light, a song-cycle for baritone and piano, setting texts by Robert Jellicoe, commissioned by Emmeline and James Winterbotham, was premiered by New Zealand baritone Jonathan Eyres, with the composer at the piano, in April 2023 at Reydon Hall, Suffolk. Robert Jellicoe‘s poetry features in his recent book ‘Shorelines’, which documents first-hand accounts of sea-faring and fishing around the town of Southwold. These thrilling, sometimes amusing, but more often tragic, stories moved Jellicoe to write his own poetry as prefaces to different chapters in his history – it is these which Nathan has set in his new song cycle.
Quartet Black, a Britten-Pears Arts Commission for the Aldeburgh Festival, this work was premiered at the festival in June 2023 by the Heath Quartet. Nathan describes the work as ‘a deeply personal work, juxtaposing consonance and dissonance, darkness and light, tenderness and rage, in a heady cocktail of extremes’.
Nathan wrote a blog on the work in the lead-up to the premiere, which can be found on this site – the first part is here and subsequent posts can be found via the news section of the homepage.
Other news:
- A recording of The Little That Was Once a Man, a song-cycle for voice and piano setting texts by Bryan Heiser, is available on SOMM Recordings’ Volume III of ‘100 Years of British Song’, performed by James Gilchrist and the composer.
- Nathan’s reflective and whimsical Intermezzo for solo piano is also included on this volume as a ‘bonus track’ – click here to hear this work performed live from recording sessions.
A full catalogue of Nathan’s compositions can be browsed here or via the ‘Works’ button in the menu above.
CD recordings of Nathan’s work can be found on the Albums page. In addition to this there are various live (but good quality) recordings on the media page.
For any questions about Nathan’s work, or to order copies of scores or recordings please do feel free to contact us.
