From 6th-10th December, soprano Heloise Werner will perform one-woman opera Scenes from the End at the Tristan Bates Theatre in London’s West End, directed by Emily Burns with words and music by me. Tickets are available here. You can read press quotes from the successful summer run of the show here, and find out more about Heloise Werner here.
“Scenes From The End is powerful, abstract and thought provoking in its impact.” A Younger Theatre
On 18th December, I will conduct the world premiere of my choral piece The Second Advent at St Mark’s Basilica, Venice, as part of the Eton College Compline Choir’s tour to Italy. This is the second piece I have written for the Compline Choir, and I am thrilled to be working with them and music director Ed Yeo once again as part of my residency at Eton College. The piece is a new take on the famous advent carol “Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending”, with three separate groups of singers chanting tribally across the stunning space of St Mark’s.
I am delighted to announce that I will be the joint Cambridge University Musical Society Composer in Residence for 2016-17. This includes writing a piece for the Cambridge University New Music Ensemble, which will be premiered on 2nd February 2017 and conducted by Patrick Bailey, about which more to come.
After two sell-out shows in London, my one-woman opera Scenes from the End will head to Edinburgh on 22nd August for a 6-day run (tickets are still available). Here are some quotes from and links to the London reviews, along with the poster for Edinburgh:
“Scenes From The End is powerful, abstract and thought provoking in its impact.” A Younger Theatre
“the work has an immediacy which is arresting and very powerful”, “direct and thought-provoking with a raw intimacy” The Cross-Eyed Pianist
“a compelling combination of music, theatre, spoken word, projection and recorded sound.” Andrew Benson-Wilson
“Whatever your level of interest in opera, this is a good opportunity to experience what the human voice is capable of, both at the loudest and longest big note and the smallest and barely audible whisper, and every level in between. A well-acted, quirky and charming production.” London Theatre 1
…and now tickets for the Edinburgh run are on-sale here!
Tickets are now on-sale here for my one-woman opera Scenes from the End at the Camden People’s Theatre on 10th/11th August, 7.15pm. I am also pleased to announce that there will be a further run of performances at the Tristan Bates Theatre, Covent Garden from 6th-10th December. Watch this space for ticket information on the Edinburgh run, which is 22nd-27th August. You can find out more about the show here and about soprano Heloise Werner here.
JW
My orchestral piece Prelude: “1939”, written for the symphony orchestra of Eton College as part of my residency there, will be premiered on 26th June (details on the poster below). The piece takes a painting by Hans Feibusch as its starting point. This is my first time writing for a youth orchestra, and I have been thrilled by their talent, energy and enthusiasm. Here is the programme note…
The title of this orchestral prelude is taken from the painting “1939” by German artist Hans Feibusch. The piece is not programmatic or pictorial, but has used the tragi-comic image of the painting’s three figures as an expressive starting point. The main material is a triadic chorale sequence which droops downwards chromatically. Out of this comes the major 3rd as a harmonic basis and the descending semitone as a melodic basis.
…and you can view the first page here.
JW
