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.