Keep up to date with recent news about my work
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.
Summer Round Up
I haven’t updated my website for quite a while (five months in fact), this being for two reasons: firstly, as I am in the process of transferring all this information to a new, all-singing-all-dancing website and secondly that not an awful lot has happened in these joyous months of 2020. However, some things have happened since April, so I guess I should do a sort of round up.
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.
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.