Release Date: 15 January 2021
In this partnership with National Youth Choir (NYC) we present choral works by four talented young composers Joe Bates, Amy Bryce, Nathan James Dearden and Lisa Robertson. Their work explores themes ranging from our newly found isolation, how we exist in relation to our 'digital' selves, to a call to listen to scientific facts in the face of the impending climate emergency.
NYC inspires and empowers young people throughout the UK with the life-changing experience of singing together. Founded in 1983, NYC comprises five choirs of over 950 young people aged 9-25 – who join together for intensive rehearsal experiences, musicianship training and high profile performances – and two training programmes for emerging professional artists: NYC Fellowship and Young Composers Scheme. NYC are regular performers at the Royal Albert Hall and at other notable venues across the UK such as Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Birmingham Town Hall and Sage Gateshead. They are involved in prestigious festivals including BBC Proms, Snape Proms and Three Choirs Festival.
'NYC has always championed new music, from a glittering back-catalogue by distinguished composers to a burgeoning pipeline of new commissions from an increasingly broad spectrum of international composers. The success and achievements of the first two years of our Young Composers Scheme cannot be overestimated, even with the severe restrictions that Covid-19 put in our way in 2020. The scheme really is a unique opportunity for young composers in the early stages of their careers to write music specifically for our suite of NYC choirs, learning from a distinguished cohort of professional mentors, including, most recently, Errollyn Wallen, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Richard Allain, Toby Young and Roxanna Panufnik. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we continued with all our activity online, offering training and mentoring sessions with our partners and associates, and ultimately managed to come together in October 2020 for a day in the studio to record these wonderful, innovative and thought-provoking compositions.' - Ben Parry, NYC Artistic Director & Principal Conductor
NYC Fellowship
Eleanor Bray, Loren Kell soprano
Ella Rainbird-Earley, Milette Riis alto
James Botcher, David Woods tenor
Laurence Padfield, Freddie Crowley bass
Ben Parry director
TRACK LISTING
1. Amy Bryce A Strange Time and Place
2-6. Nathan James Dearden Morals + Interludes
7. Joe Bates Now is a Long Time
8. Lisa Robertson to tell it like it is
AUDIO
FUNDERS
The 2020 Young Composers Scheme was kindly supported by:
PRS Foundation’s The Open Fund • NMC Recordings Ltd (Digital Partner)
RVW Trust • Britten-Pears Foundation • Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust
Michael Tippett Musical Foundation • The Garrick Charitable Trust
Royal Albert Hall
2020 Young Composers Scheme Innovation Grant Sponsors:
Stainer & Bell (Publishing Partner)
Dorico (Technology Partner and New Music Programme Sponsor)
RECORDINGS CREDIT
All works were recorded 17 October 2020 at Love Electric Studios, London.
Engineered and mixed by Andy Hughes
Produced and edited by Ben Parry
Catalogue number: NMC DL3045
Release Date: 15 January 2021