2016 is starting with a buzz of activity, dusting off existing projects for performance and preparing the ground for new work.
My podcasting project features new conversations with Stephen McNeff, composer of Vivienne, and Liz Smith, film-maker and documenter of the O Antiphons. Click on the name to listen to the podcasts or go to my blog feed to view all podcasts. Watch Liz’s short films of the O Antiphons here.
Haydn’s London Ladies has grown from an hour-long to a two-part presentation with interval and is getting a first performance in this new version at the Swindon Recital Series on 7 Feb. Enlarging the recital has enabled us to bring in a fifth Lady, Emma Hamilton, whose story justifies a whole show in itself, and to introduce some extra music. As well as excerpts from less-known pieces such as The Battle of the Nile, we will also perform the cantata Arianna a Naxos, a piece of which Emma Hamilton sang with Haydn at the keyboard.
My new solo CD with Libby Burgess – Notes from the Asylum – is due out any day now. Read more about the project here.
New songs are in the pipeline from Rob Keeley and Toby Young, as well as longer-term projects in development with Martin Ward and Martin Bussey.
I’m also pleased to announce my involvement with a new charitable organisation – New Notes & Noises – whose brief is to help the development and presentation of new work in the future. There will be more information on this over the next few weeks.