Britten Sinfonia announces new initiatives to support emerging composers
Tuesday, October 5, 2021
The two new programmes will support composers in the development of their careers
The Britten Sinfonia has announced two new initiatives to support early-career composers in developing their craft.
The Opus 1 scheme will bring together peer support with practical guidance. This summer, composers Hugo Bell, Jamie Elless, Pia Rose Scattergood, Pete Walton, Elliott Park, Darius Paymai, Rachael Gibson and John Rivero-Pico workshopped and discussed their music with Britten Sinfonia musicians, programme directors Joe Cutler and Dobrinka Tabakova and each other.
The scheme culminated with members of Britten Sinfonia recording a piece of music by each composer, providing a practical addition to their musical portfolios. To continue this network of support, Opus 1 composers will be invited to Britten Sinfonia rehearsals, concerts and events throughout this season.
The Magnum Opus scheme provides support for musicians further along in their careers. Three composers will spend the 2021/22 season 'embedded' with Britten Sinfonia, and the culmination of this will be the performance on their work as part of the group's London concert season in autumn 2022.
Jonathan Brigg (b. 1984, Bradford, England), Nathan James Dearden (b.1992, Tonyrefail, Wales) and Aileen Sweeney (b.1994, Glasgow, Scotland) have been selected from 134 applications, following an initial anonymised long and short listing process, and interviews by composers Dobrinka Tabakova and Joe Cutler, and Britten Sinfonia Artistic Director Meurig Bowen.
Meurig Bowen, Britten Sinfonia artistic director and chief executive said: 'In developing these two new strands to Britten Sinfonia’s work, we have taken a step back and taken soundings from composers: performance opportunities are of course key, but so too is the chance to engage with peers, to gain insight from the very best musicians in the business and to become immersed in a creative musical environment, with the opportunity to explore and experiment. This is especially the case for young and emerging composers.
'It was abundantly clear from our selection process for these two Opus programmes how rich the seam of composing talent is in the UK. We want to do all we can to help composers develop and new music to flourish, so that the future of music is every bit as exhilarating as the past.'