UYMP was delighted to read Paul Conway's glowing review of The Frederick Septimus Kelly Project in Musical Opinion magazine this month. The disc includes music by Kelly alongside movements from a new work by Sadie Harrison, written in tribute to the composer. The reviewer notes that "Harrison’s heartfelt homage acknowledges the tragedy of [Kelly's] loss to family and friends, as well as to the musical world, yet she also celebrates his personality and creativity". The "sensitive approach" captured in Alex Wilson's piano playing is also highlighted, with ample justice done to the "virtuosic, crowd-pleasing writing" contained in the works. Harrison's contributions are described as "charming", "compassionate" and "profoundly considered" homages. The review finishes by drawing attention to a resulting "vivid overarching narrative that constantly sheds new light upon itself".

UYMP is thrilled to hear that Jo Kondo has been announced as the 55th recipient of the Suntory Music Award, hosted by Suntory Foundation for the Arts, and offers Professor Kondo many congratulations. This award is granted to individuals who have contributed notably to the development of Western-style music in Japan; the awarding committee felt that "since his sen no ongaku (linear music) series exactly half a century ago, Jo Kondo has continued to enlighten Japanese audiences and musicians on a profound level with his works and writings". UYMP would of course like to echo the statement that "this year presents an excellent opportunity to honor this composer, who has continued to work with an intellect and integrity rarely seen in the world today".

We are absolutely delighted that the documentary made of house composer Sadie Harrison’s PASTURE & STORM PROJECT (New Repertoire for left hand alone pianists) has been accepted by several international film festivals for release in Spring 2024. Made by acclaimed filmmaker Chris Frazer Smith, the film documents the composition, rehearsal, recording and premiere of 8 new compositions written for virtuoso left hand pianist Nicholas McCarthy also featuring pianists Tomas Klement, Sophia Benton, the Bristol Ensemble conducted by John Pickard, led by Roger Huckle and singer Peyee Chen. The PASTURE & STORM PROJECT was supported by Arts Council England, the Hinrichsen Foundation, the Ambache Charitable Trust and the RVW Trust. 

UYMP’s friends Late Music York have three concerts coming up for the first weekend of April, at their usual Unitarian Chapel venue, St Saviourgate, York.  David Hammond returns for a recital at 1pm on Friday 5th April.  David will be exploring the piano repertoire of Yorkshire composer Richard Stoker and will also play works by local and regional composers, including Steve Crowther.   The Amabile trio (Lesley Schatzberger (clarinet), Nicola Tait Baxter (cello) and Paul Nicholson (piano) will perform works by Brahms, Louise Farrenc and Steve Crowther at 1pm on Saturday 6th April .  The Saturday 6th April evening concert at 7.30pm will be given by Savva Zverev (violin) and Sid Ramachander (piano), in a programme ranging from Bach to Pärt.    

James Weeks’ fascinating work Primo Libro, a set of 16 short madrigals, has been released on CD by Ekmeles vocal ensemble, led by director Jeffrey Gavett, on New Focus Recordings (CD fcr394 -‘We Live the Opposite Daring’).  Dan Lippel of New Focus writes that the new release references ‘the past through tuning systems, texts, extended vocal techniques, and poignant histories’ and describes Ekmeles’ performance of the works on the CD as ‘nothing short of sublime’.  Week’s ‘Primo Libro’ is inspired by Nicola Vicentino’s (1511-1575/6) madrigals, with which Weeks first became acquainted in 2010, whilst working on a project with selected members of the BBC Singers.  

The Micklegate Singers have their Spring concert at 7:30 PM on Saturday 23rd March at St Lawrence's Church. Alongside works by Cardoso, MacMillan, Antognini, Whitbourn, and Howells, the programme will include the first complete performance of the collection A Quaker Triology. This collection features text by poet William Penn set by three York composers: Frederick Viner, David McGregor, and Joe Bates.

UYMP's friends Late Music York have three exciting concerts coming up this first weekend in March, at the Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York.  Hilary Suckling’s lunchtime piano recital (1pm, Saturday 2nd March) will include works by York-based composers Martin Suckling and James Else. The Saturday 2nd March evening concert (7.30pm), on the theme of ‘Passion’, to be given by the Elysian Singers, will include the world premiere of UYMP composer David Lancaster’s Crucifixion, a commission from Late Music.  The Sunday 3rd March lunchtime concert at 1pm, by the Clerkes of All Saints, spans a journey from Monteverdi to Saint-Saens, through Macmillan’s Scotland and Ēriks Ešenvalds’ Latvia, to Estonia with Pärt Uusberg.

Page 9 of the January issue of Choir & Organ magazine featured an interview on the collaboration between Jonathan Clinch and composer Robert Saxton. Clinch notes that the collaboration began during lockdown, as the two began to explore the possibilities of the digital organ software Hauptwerk. These comissions eventually culminated in a recent recording in which 5 of Saxton's organ works are intertwined with solo music by J.S. Bach. Clinch explains that "preparing the Saxton has changed the manner in which I've played the Bach as much as the Bach has changed the way I play the Saxton. For the listener, I hope this demonstrates the ways in which this "new" music relates to the past, but also how "new" Bach's music can appear".

The DR Vocal Ensemble performed Robert Saxton’s Hymn to Saint Michael in concerts at Copenhagen Cathedral and Aarhus Cathedral on 7th and 9th February. Marcus Creed, the concert's conductor, was a contemporary of Robert Saxton at Cambridge University.  Saxton wrote the piece as a parting gift to DR Vokalensemblet's artistic director, Michael Emery, when, in 2015, he left the equivalent position with the British radio choir, the BBC Singers. The Aarhus performance will be live-streamed on DR P2 at 1830 (UK time) today (11th February) and will be available for 30 days.

An excellent article about Simaku’s Catena III - Corona “exploring the contrasts of the world” has been published in the classical music e-magazine Interlude in January 2024. Composed during the first lockdown, the piece was written for Ensemble Intercontemporain soloist Dimitri Vassilakis, and it is included in Simaku’s latest CD SOLO released by the British label NMC Recordings in September 2023.

Written by musicologist Maureen Buja, the article begins: “The piece opens with a crash that quickly fades away. This is Albanian-British composer Thomas Simaku’s piano work Catena III - Corona. A product of the first lockdown that started in March 2020, when about half the world’s population had to stay at home, Catena III - Corona begins by exploring the contrasts of the world we are confined to.”

The UYMP office was delighted read a glowing 5-star review of Ex Corde Vocal Ensemble's new CD Apocalypse: Choral music by David Lancaster, directed by Paul Gameson and released on Resonus. The disc features a programme consisting of three choral works by Lancaster, and the review by Clare Stevens was published in the January/February issue of Choir and Organ magazine.

UYMP is delighted that our friends Late Music York’s second half of the concert season 2023-24 commences this week, on Friday 2nd February at 1pm and Saturday 3rd February, at 1pm and 7.30pm, with three programmes celebrating the sheer diversity of contemporary music. David Power will be introducing the Saturday evening song recital featuring Robert Rice (baritone) and William Vann (piano) with a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm. As usual, Late Music will be offering a complimentary glass of wine or juice. See the whole programme at Late Music's website and read more about this weekend’s programmes/buy tickets here .