Keep up to date with recent news about my work
Review of 2020
Every New Year I write a brief review of what I have been up to in the previous year: all the concerts, commissions, broadcasts etc - it is an entirely positive and rose-tinted appraisal of the previous 12 months. However, this year I’m finding that process just a little bit more difficult, and it is genuinely quite hard to paint a totally optimistic picture of 2020: as an academic and musician it has been a bleak and barren year, and one of the most challenging in my life.
On ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’…
Due to the wonders of COVID-19, it has been a long time since I have met another composer in the flesh, a long time since we welcomed another creator of original music to the university to give a talk, a seminar or to give tutorials. It has been a long time since we entertained another creative musician in the wonderful hostelries of Old Aberdeen Town, and all that entails. Now, you may be wondering why I am badgering on about this, whether I’m being nostalgic, sad or hankering for the on-campus experience denied to many academics.
On ‘What are you currently writing?’
Due to the wonders of COVID-19, it has been a long time since I have met another composer in the flesh, a long time since we welcomed another creator of original music to the university to give a talk, a seminar or to give tutorials. It has been a long time since we entertained another creative musician in the wonderful hostelries of Old Aberdeen Town, and all that entails. Now, you may be wondering why I am badgering on about this, whether I’m being nostalgic, sad or hankering for the on-campus experience denied to many academics.
On Artists and Isolation (or Composers and the Coronavirus)
In the UK we are entering the end of our fourth week of ‘lockdown’ in which families and individuals are asked to stay in the their houses, to try to work from home and to avoid contact with other people at all times – you don’t need me to tell you about how unprecedented, challenging and destablising the whole situation is. But it is what it is, and it is for the safety and health of the nation, if not the world, that we isolate ourselves.
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).
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.
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.
Excellent Reviews of 'Star of Heaven'
The reviews of Star of Heaven have been unanimously good, and the kind words about my work Ave Maria, mater Dei have been overwhelmingly positive.
Review of 2018
2018 was a slightly different year for me, still full of successes across my professional life, but one with a very different focus from previous. As a composer, the highlight was the commission, performance, broadcast and recording of Ave Maria, mater Dei a new work commissioned by the Genesis Foundation for The Sixteen.
On Bob Chilcott's 'The Shepherd's Carol'...
As always, I try to write a festive blog entry every year in the vain hope that it might be the apex of someone’s holiday season; the signal that Christmas has really started, and the festivities can begin. I’m joking. I do it because I love Christmas music and I’m stuck into a pattern of doing this every year.
New Promo Photos
I recently had some photos taken of me for a new brochure at the Department of Music at the University of Aberdeen.