(Speak to me): New music, New politics by RNCM Lecturer Dr Adam Swayne, was chosen as BBC Music Magazine’s ‘Instrumental Choice’ of the month, receiving a blistering 5* review for performance.
Released in January on the Coviello Contemporary label with support from an RNCM research grant, the album focuses on social and political issues.
It includes première recordings of political piano music from the USA by Amy Beth Kirsten and Kevin Malone, alongside original interpretations of existing repertoire by Frederic Rzewski and Morton Gould.
Recorded at the RNCM in August, the release of (Speak to me): New music, New politics was promoted via a concert in the Carole Nash Recital Room, which also featured new works by postgraduate composers Athanasia Kontou and Aaron Breeze, written in response to themes on the CD.
The project forms part of RNCM Research’s new Centre for Music and Conflict, which explores the various roles that music and the arts play in reflecting, representing, commenting on and commemorating conflict.
