University of York Music Press

The Kreutzer Quartet will be one of the ensembles in residence, and will perform Croquis, the large scale collection of miniatures by Jeremy Dale Roberts, described by the Guardian as "volatile, sinuous and intense". The next day they are performing Taking Flight by Sadie Harrison, a work premiered by the Kreutzer Quartet, and recorded by them on Metier Records MSV CD92053. The centerpiece of the Kreutzer Quartet residency will be the performance of two works by Thomas Simaku to mark his 50th birthday and the launch of their recently recorded Naxos CD of Simaku's music for strings. They will perform Simaku's Radius - String Quartet No 2 and Soliloquy I for solo violin, both works featured on the Naxos disc (Naxos 8.570428).

The Festival will also see the launch of Pianthology, a collection of contemporary works for piano edited by Dr Nicky Losseff and published by UYMP. Dr Losseff has selected seven piano works by living composers, and has recorded them on a CD which will be supplied with the volume. She has also written extensive performance and analysis notes on each piece. Pianthology is aimed at tertiary level students, and during the Festival Dr Losseff will perform four of the works from the volume, with the other three being performed by her students. This will be a unique opportunity to hear a performance of every work in an anthology by the book's editor alongside its intended readership. In a similar vein, there is an education project based around On Track, UYMP's ensemble for GSCE publication, which has been accredited by the Edexcel examination board. The Music Education Group from York University will be working with children from local secondary schools to perform pieces from this collection, in a project that will help both the school children with their GCSE performance and help to train the next generation of teachers.

The University of York Symphony Orchestra will also be demonstrating their commitment to contemporary music with John Stringer conducting his own Hinterland as well as David Lumsdaine's evocative orchestral masterpiece Salvation Creek with Eagle. The concert will also feature a world premiere by the Irish composer Judith Ring, who is a York PhD student and holder of the Elizabeth Maconchy Fellowship. Concert programmes and timings can be found at the Festival website, where you can also buy tickets for all concerts.