the songs, at Kings Place, London from 1–4 April 2009. Celebrating 25 years: Opera releases and other projects Anniversary Opera Releases To celebrate its 25 years, NMC released three major British contemporary operas, funded by a special anniversary appeal. NMC managed to raise over £40,000, thanks to eight trusts and foundations and more than 50 individual donors, in order to produce these landmark works and to give them a permanent place in its catalogue. The three operas are: Harrison Birtwistle's Gawain (NMC D200, Gramophone Award in 1996 (Collins Classics)) Judith Weir's The Vanishing Bridegroom (NMC D196) Gerald Barry's The Importance of Being Earnest (NMC D197), inspired by the song he contributed to The NMC Songbook Partnership projects Over recent years, NMC has developed a lot of partnerships with various organisations. In its anniversary year, it furthered these partnerships by working closely with the London Sinfonietta (on Larry Goves's Just stuff people do, NMC D198) and the Hallé (on John Casken's Orion over Farne, NMC D189 and Helen Grime's Night Song, NMC D199). For the first time, NMC teamed up with leading dance companies – Sadler's Wells and Rambert – to release Mark-Anthony's UNDANCE. The year of NMC's 25th Anniversary will also see the creation of a partnership with the Science Museum and Aurora Orchestra. Next Wave NMC, in collaboration with Sound and Music, offered professional support, mentoring and commissioning to a dozen student composers for the Next Wave project, aiming at bridging the gap between composing in a university setting and pursuing a career as a professional composer. Wigmore Hall For its 25th anniversary, NMC decided to rebalance its catalogue and to remedy to its lack of string quartet compositions. Therefore, it collaborated with Wigmore Hall to commission six quartets, premiered and released in two volumes over the next couple of years featuring: Mark-Anthony Turnage + Belcea Quartet; Simon Holt + Jack Quartet; Anthony Gilbert + Carducci Quartet; Helen Grime + Heath Quartet; Donnacha Dennehy + Doric Quartet; and Paul Newland + Elias Quartet. Awards Several NMC releases have won critical awards: Robin Holloway: Second Concerto for Orchestra (NMC D015M; 1994 Gramophone Magazine Award) Harrison Birtwistle: The Mask of Orpheus (NMC D050; 1998 Gramophone Award) Jonathan Harvey: Body Mandala (NMC D141; 2008 Gramophone Award) Julian Anderson: Book of Hours (NMC D121; 2007 Pizzicato Supersonic Award) Benjamin Britten: Britten on Film (NMC D112; 2008 MIDEM Classical Award) The NMC Songbook (NMC