Mark's short work Parable for solo saxophone has been released as part of the London Sinfonietta's Sinfonietta Shorts series on NMC. You can listen to an extract of Simon Haram's performance and download the whole piece here.
Mark's new work Innocent's Song commissioned by Jeremy Huw Williams and the Welsh Chamber Orchestra with funds from the RVW Trust will be premiered in Wales on the 10th December at the Blake Theatre, in Monmouth, followed by a performance on the 11th December at the Town Hall, in Rhyl. The piece is a setting of Charles Causley's poem of the same title. More details here.
Mark's work Parable, for solo saxophone, will be performed on Sunday, December 8th at the London Sinfonietta's annual New Music Show as part of the culmination to the Southbank Centre's The Rest Is Noise series. The festival-in-a-day features four sets of new music alongside debates, curated by the Royal Philharmonic Society as part of their bicentenary celebrations, on what new music's future holds. More details here.
Mark's percussion concerto Heartland with soloist Julian Warburton returns with Eleesha Drennan's powerful work Virtual Descent performed by National Dance Company Wales. Performances of Virtual Descent will take place across the UK with live music in London at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House (details here) and in Cardiff at the Donald Gordon Theatre, Wales Millennium Centre (details here). The London performances will feature Julian Warburton and the Cardiff performances will feature Julian Warburton with the Royal Welsh College Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tim Murray. Full tour details here.
The Contemporary Consort return to Stratford on Avon Music Festival on the 14th October with a concert featuring Mark's early work Quartet for clarinet, violin, viola and cello. Further details here.
I'm really excited to announce details about my next project with BBC National Orchestra of Wales supported by a generous grant from the Jerwood Charitable Foundation. The Creation Project is a new collaboration with the poet and novelist Owen Sheers. Taking Haydn's 1798 work The Creation we plan to make a new work for chorus and orchestra exploring the meaning of creation in the twenty-first century. Owen and I are off to CERN in October to begin a period of research. Through engagement with the latest developments in particle physics we will explore the creation of matter and anti-matter whilst also delving into the human side of the brilliant minds that are currently working to uncover these secrets of the universe. Watch this space for more details.
Preparations for the first work-in-progress presentation of The Mare's Tale are now in full swing. Damian Walford Davies has created a beautiful new libretto and Clive Hicks-Jenkins has conjured the wonderful puppets and striking design as well as directing the whole piece!
The show will take at Theatr Brycheiniog on Saturday 7th September at 8pm performed by the Mid Wales Chamber Orchestra with the project's producer James Slater conducting and Eric Roberts narrating. Catch up on the latest developments here.
Mark recently founded the first ever National Youth Orchestra of Wales composition programme, which ran alongside this summer’s NYOW residency. Five brilliant young composers aged 13-21 wrote new music for groups of musicians from within the ranks of the orchestra and presented them in pre-concert events during the NYOW concert tour of Wales and in a stand-alone performance as part of the Aberystwyth MusicFest. Watch this space for details about next year's course. For more information click here.
Mark's percussion concerto/ballet score Heartland will be broadcast during the first of two Radio 3 programmes from the 2013 Vale of Glamorgan Festival on 13th July. Mark will discuss the work on Hear and Now with Tom Service. More details and listen online here.
In the last of five BBC Radio 3 Hear and Now programmes celebrating British music, Ivan Hewett presents recent orchestral works from Wales featuring Mark's 2008 work Tirlun performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Grant Llewellyn. You can listen here.
The Rambert Orchestra will perform for the first time at this year's Spitalfields Music Summer Festival. The programme includes Mark's work Viriditas composed during his residency at Rambert plus pieces by Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Gavin Higgins. Further details here.
Mark's new percussion concerto Heartland will be premiered by Julian Warburton with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Richard Baker at this year's Vale of Glamorgan Festival on May 15th at Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff. The concert also includes new work by Qigang Chen and Sebastian Currier. Further details here.
Several of Mark's works are now available from Composers Edition, a brand new publishing enterprise featuring the music of some of the UK's brightest professional composers. Composers Edition provides a high quality print-on-demand and digital download service. Scores and performance materials can either be delivered by post or downloaded immediately. Further details here.
In April Nonclassical return to The Macbeth in Hoxton. The night will feature a performance from the amazing violinist Thomas Gould and he’s put together an intimate programme featuring Mark's work for solo violin and electronics Lines written a few miles below. Further details here.
Back in October 2012 the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Andrew Gourlay performed a portrait concert of the Camberwell Composers' Collective. Hear and Now will broadcast the concert on 2nd March 2013 introduced by Sara Mohr-Pietsch with Mark and Emily joining her in the studio. You can catch the broadcast here or listen again here.
After nearly a whole year of collaboration between Mark and the wonderful choreographer Eleesha Drennan, their new piece, Virtual Descent, is about to receive its premiere as National Dance Company Wales begins its spring tour. Julian Warburton and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Grant Llewellyn recorded Mark’s score, a brand new percussion concerto called Heartland, in January. Performances are happening in Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland throughout 2013. Full details here.
Mark is working with percussionist Julian Warburton in January to record his new percussion concerto heartland with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Grant Llewellyn. The recording will be used by the National Dance Company of Wales for a new collaborative production choreographed by Eleesha Drennan.
James Slater and the Mid Wales Chamber Orchestra have secured funding from the Arts Council of Wales to create a new music-theatre project. The new work will be inspired by the beautiful series of painting by Clive Hicks-Jenkins based on the midwinter tradition of the Mari Lwyd. The creative team includes James Slater (producer), Clive Hicks-Jenkins (designer/director), Damian Walford Davis (librettist) and Mark will compose the new score. Production meetings begin in the new year. Watch this space for as the project develops.