{"product_id":"philharmonia-composers-academy-volume-9","title":"Philharmonia Composers' Academy Volume 9","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRelease date: 4 December 2026\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv title=\"Page 1\" class=\"page\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"section\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"layoutArea\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"column\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn 4 December 2026, \u003cstrong\u003eNMC Recordings\u003c\/strong\u003e releases \u003cstrong\u003eVolume 9\u003c\/strong\u003e in the \u003cstrong\u003ePhilharmonia Composers’ Academy\u003c\/strong\u003e series.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach year, the Philharmonia commissions and supports early-career composers to create a new piece for an ensemble of Philharmonia musicians, working with NMC to bring the recordings to wider circulation. Previous composers have included Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Mark Simpson, Alex Paxton, Nneka Cummins and many others who have gone on to secure major commissions and residencies.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCreated during the Philharmonia’s 80th birthday season, this edition brings together works by \u003cstrong\u003eClaire Cope\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eEllen Drewe\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eHarry Rees\u003c\/strong\u003e, responding to the orchestra’s theme Music \u0026amp; Identity, with each composer exploring ideas and issues that are important to them. The three works were performed by the Philharmonia conducted by Mert Yalniz. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eClaire Cope’s \u003cem\u003eCold Earth\u003c\/em\u003e is inspired by Sarah Moss’s novel of the same name, which tells the story of a group of archaeologists trapped on an isolated dig in Greenland as a global pandemic takes hold. As fear and hysteria grow, the group begin to experience ghostly visitations as past and present collide. Cope’s piece centres on ideas of social fragility, from pandemic-driven societal collapse and political instability to growing fears about the climate crisis. Densely moving chords, ominous syncopated undercurrents, plaintive melodies and delicate, glassy textures create an atmosphere of grief and fragility. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEllen Drewe’s \u003cem\u003eClap Your Hands\u003c\/em\u003e is built around field recordings taken during a political protest in London in 2025, attended by many thousands of people. Drewe incorporates chants from the recordings into the musical material, quoting and distorting them while layering prerecorded and notated rhythmic material. The dialogue between ensemble and fixed media creates a highly emotive atmosphere, with music becoming a tool for communication and thea collective pursuit of justice. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHarry Rees’s \u003cem\u003eI Once Saw The Face Of God\u003c\/em\u003e takes inspiration from a poem by Sophia Light. The piece unfolds in three sections: a foreboding prelude, a faster pulsating undercurrent of dread, and a final sequence of increasingly fast, dissonant and disconnected passages representing the ongoing waves of terror experienced by the narrator. The work ends abruptly and timidly, as the narrator avoids confronting what they have seen and understood about the world they inhabit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePhilharmonia Orchestra \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMert Yalniz\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003econductor\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJonathan Stokes\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003erecording engineer, producer\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eFUNDERS\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNMC Recordings receives funding from Arts Council England, The Vaughan Williams Foundation, The Hinrichsen Foundation and The Delius Trust.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0424\/6870\/4411\/files\/HinrichsenFoundationLogo.png?v=1708531647\" alt=\"\" width=\"204\" height=\"58\"\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0424\/6870\/4411\/files\/Delius_black.png?v=1695229411\" width=\"156\" height=\"94\" style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0424\/6870\/4411\/files\/ACE_grant_jpeg_black.jpg?v=1692285677\" width=\"259\" height=\"78\" style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0424\/6870\/4411\/files\/VWF_colour.png?v=1692100473\" width=\"191\" height=\"122\" style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCatalogue number: NMC \u003cspan\u003eDL3064\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NMC Recordings","offers":[{"title":"MP3","offer_id":55737410191736,"sku":"NMCDL3064_DL-1","price":5.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"FLAC16","offer_id":55737410224504,"sku":"NMCDL3064_DL-2","price":6.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"FLAC24","offer_id":55737410257272,"sku":"NMCDL3064_DL-3","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"PDF Booklet","offer_id":55737410290040,"sku":"NMCDL3064_DL-4","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0424\/6870\/4411\/files\/PHILHARMONIA_ComposersAcademyvol.9_CDCover_ART_bd825729-28a1-4d09-b6e7-4dba4a71b1c6.png?v=1794476545","url":"https:\/\/nmc-recordings.myshopify.com\/products\/philharmonia-composers-academy-volume-9","provider":"NMC Recordings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}