Keep up to date with recent news about my work
American Premiere of 'Ave Maria, mater Dei'
I was very pleased to find out recently that my motet Ave Maria, mater Dei (2017) was one of the winners of the ORTUS competition run by the Khorikos choir in New York.
The Month Ahead
January is a busy month of performances to begin the New Year, in fact it begins on New Year's Day with the Irish premiere of my Fourth Service (2018) at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.
Review of 2019
2019 was a busy, exhilarating, but often stressful year with lots of highs and lows. In my day job I continued as Head of Music at the University of Aberdeen and made some useful contributions.
On Morten Lauridsen's 'O Magnum Mysterium'...
Another year flies by and Christmas is upon us again with its gaudy mix of over-indulgence and introspection (with a cheery dose of political uncertainty added for extra measure).
The Month Ahead
There are a few performances (that I know about...) coming up in the Christmas period, some of which I will able to make. The first of which is the London premiere of my recent Salve Regina (2019) given by the City University Chamber Choir, conducted by Rory McCleery. This will take place at St Clement's Church, Finsbury, London, on the 04 December.
On Forgetting How to Write Music…
About a year ago I wrote a blog entry entitled ‘On Not Writing Music’ where I discussed how little music I had written that year and how strange it was for a ‘professional’ composer not to be composing. And I was left wondering how and when I would get back on the compositional horse. It was a classic.
The Month Ahead
Autumn is a busy time for performances and premieres across the world (and it isn't that often I can say that!). The 22 September sees the American premiere of my song cycle Lakesongs (2011) by Ellen Scholl, Matthew McBride-Daline and Kevin Bylsma in Toledo, Ohio with further performances in October.
'Fourth Service' in The Netherlands
It was really nice to hear that the Schola Liturgica Leeuwarden will be giving the Dutch premiere of my Fourth Service [St Pancras] this Sunday (08/09) at the Grote Of Jacobijner Kerk, Leeuwarden, conducted by Geke Bruining.
Book launches in Edinburgh, Cumnock and Aberdeen
This week I will be taking part in the first of three book launches for The Music of James MacMillan at Blackwell's Bookshop in Edinburgh - further book launches will take place at The Cumnock Tryst in October and at the SOUND festival in November.
'There is no rose' published by Music Sales
It was really nice to see my carol There is no rose (2013) available as a separate publication from Music Sales.
The Music of James MacMillan
I recently received my copies of The Music of James MacMillan and they look amazing! It was a strangely overwhelming experience leafing through the book, something that I had first imagined back in 2006 and had spent the past two years intensely working on.
On The London Festival of Contemporary Church Music...
I’m going to begin this with an admission: I’m not a very collaborative composer – some composers are, and I admire them for that – but I am not. As I approach my fortieth year I think I’ve collaborated with poets, librettists, directors or producers at maximum 10 times, and have never struck up a lasting collaboration that has resulted in multiple pieces or projects.