OLF composition workshop

 

Back in Oxford yesterday for a composition workshop held as part of the Oxford Lieder Festival.  Mezzo-soprano Ciara Hendrick and I had two days to learn half a dozen new songs composed by current music students at Oxford University as part of their composition portfolios, and we then workshopped these compositions in a two-hour session led by Dr Martin Harry.  Well done to all six composers on some very accomplished and promising compositions: Nick Barstow (Song for a Nightmare), Huw Catchpole-Davies (Traversing the Centuries), Tom Chevis (The Small Brown Nun), David Hughes (Elegy XX – To His Mistress Going To Bed),  Piers Kennedy (The Love of God), Stephanie MacGillivray (The Unknown Bird).  What a joy to see good new song composition taking place!  This event was an excellent addition to the already impressive OLF calendar this year.