RNCM Brand New Orchestra

The piece has 3 main themes. The first is a lively pentatonic melody, the second is a cheeky sounding syncopated melody, and the third is an ostinato figure, which is the basis of a 12 bar blues. I hope this piece is fun to play and fun to listen to. It was written with fun in mind.

Note by Ted Ford.

This piece depicts a grassy serene landscape in winter as the cold winter wind sweeps over it. The wind is primarily represented in this piece by the constant ostinato going between harp, piano, strings, clarinets and flutes, which gradually builds over the piece taking over everything around it and growing out of control. I harmonically represented the serene atmosphere with pentatonic modes and major harmonies, and to build up tension introduced whole tone scales which gradually become octatonic. After the climax the main melody is stated twice very quietly representing the echoes of the wind, now far in the distance.

Note by Alex Watson.

Spectre and spectacle is the fifth part of Overdetermination, a cycle of rearrangeable pieces that can be split apart or brought together in complex and unexpected ways. Spectre and Spectacle explores ways the orchestra can be inverted, deconstructed and reassembled into unexpected groups and sounds; these decisions being derived from an acoustic analysis of synthesised, purely “artificial” sound.

Note by Patrick Gorry.

Commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Peter Oundjian, Music Director, with financial support from the Government of Canada for performances during the 150thAnniversary of the Confederation of Canada, March 2017.

Music and Trance: Plato’s Theory.
‘Dealing with exercises that should be used to form the souls of very young boys, Plato examines the methods of raising infants, and, in this context, advocates the virtues of continuous movement…especially in the case of the newborn ‘because it is as if they were always navigating.’

‘Experience, he says, has brought home the advantages of this method to ‘those who nurse small children’ as well as – and here we come to the passage that interests us – ‘to the women who ritualize in the healing of the Corybantes. For when mothers have children who suffer from insomnia and want to go to sleep, lull them to rest, they bring them not stillness, but this very movement, for they rock them ceaselessly in their arms, they bring them not silence, but melody…’

‘The reason behind this, Plato goes on, is that ‘the sufferings of both are, in brief, frights; frights that come from a defective disposition of the soul. So whenever one applies an external shaking to sufferings of this kind, the external movement overpowers the internal movement of fear and madness, and by thus overpowering it, it brings about a manifest calm in the soul and a cessation of the grievous palpitations of the heart…’ (quoted from Music and Trance, Gilbert Rouget, 1985)

The melody used here is a replication of Catalonian cellist Gaspar Cassadó’s recorded performance of Tchaikovsky’s Valse Sentimentale. The transcription reproduces Cassadó’s entrancingly idiosyncratic pushing-and-pulling of tempo and phrase.

Round is dedicated to Eamonn Quinn, with much thanks.

Note by Cassandra Miller.

Dr Cassandra Miller (1976) is a Canadian composer of vocal, chamber and orchestral music, living in London, UK. Her works are published by Faber Music.

Miller’s notated compositions (About Bach, Duet for Cello and Orchestra, Philip the Wanderer, etc.) explore transcription as a creative process, through which the expressive vocal qualities of pre-existing music are both magnified and transfigured. Her non-notated compositions (So Close, Tracery) take the form of extended collaborations with solo musicians. Using an approach that combines automatic singing and mimicry, Miller creates vulnerable and hospitable spaces for deep listening.

Cassandra received of one of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s 2021 Awards for Artists, and twice received the the Jules-Léger Prize for New Chamber Music, Canada’s highest recognition for composition—for Bel Canto in 2011 and About Bach in 2016. Two recent releases by the Another Timbre label have received wide acclaim, including a four-star review in the Guardian and inclusion on New Yorker’s Ten Notable Recordings of 2018. In 2019, About Bach received a nomination for the Classical Composition of the Year Juno Award. The Duet for Cello and Orchestra written for Charles Curtis and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra was hailed as one of the ‘best classical music works of the 21st century’ (The Guardian, 2019).

Her works are often written with specific performers in mind, involving their intimate participation in the creative process. Her closest collaborators in this fashion have included soprano Juliet Fraser, the Quatuor Bozzini, conductor Ilan Volkov, cellist Charles Curtis, pianist Philip Thomas, violinist Silvia Tarozzi, violinist Mira Benjamin, and violist Lawrence Power. Pieces written expressly for them have been toured and performed across the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Norway, Uruguay, the United States and Canada.

Notable performers include the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic, EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble, the London Sinfonietta, I Musici de Montréal, Ensemble Plus-Minus, the late great Ensemble Kore, Apartment House, Continuum Contemporary Music, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Festivals and venues featuring her music have included Monday Evening Concerts (Los Angeles), Tectonics Glasgow, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, l’Auditori (Barcelona), Angelica Festival (Bologna), Archipel (Geneva), Only Connect Oslo, Ostrava Days, World Music Days (Ljubljana), Music we’d like to hear (London), Kammer Klang (Café OTO, London), Transit (Leuven), Music on Main (Vancouver), and Núcleo Música Nueva de Montevideo, among many others.

Teaching takes a central role in her artistic life. As Associate Head of Composition from 2018 to 2020, she led the undergraduate composition program at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Her teaching philosophy prioritises inclusivity and diversity, and questions notions of canonisation. Previously, she taught composition modules at the University of Huddersfield (2014-16) and the University of Victoria (2008-09).

Miller has been invited as a visiting teacher and to give lectures about her work in the USA at Stanford University, Columbia University, and CalArts; in the UK at the Royal Academy of Music, Bath Spa University Centre for Musical Research, Birmingham Conservatoire, Centre for Research in New Music in Huddersfield, and Brunel University; in Canada at McGill University, the University of Manitoba, the Montreal Contemporary Music Lab, Winnipeg’s Cluster New Music and Integrated Arts Festival, and the Open Space Gallery of Victoria. In Europe she has taught at the Orkest de Ereprijs Young Composers Meeting (NL), and the Mixtur Workshop of Composition and Sound Experimentation.

Her doctoral research at the University of Huddersfield (supervisor Dr Bryn Harrison, 2018) explored transcription and other transformation methods as compositional processes, and compositional engagements with varied notions of voice and vocality. In 2012, she studied privately with Michael Finnissy, whose impact continues to have a deep effect on her work. She holds a Master of Music from the Royal Conservatory of the Hague (2008, Richard Ayres, Yannis Kyriakides), where she explored narratology and narrative as tools for musical analysis. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Victoria (2005), where she studied with Christopher Butterfield, whose radical pedagogical inclusivity and Dada-inspired artistic insight remain crucial foundations for her work to date.

From 2010 to 2013, she held the post of Artistic and General Director of Innovations en concert, a not-for-profit presenter of experimental chamber music concerts and festivals in Montreal. Under her directorship, the organisation championed unusual programming, commissioned major new works, and became known for its support of young freelancers, building international connections for many Quebec artists.

Josephine Korda (2nd year Masters) was the Trainee Female Conductor at Opera North 2022-23, Associate Conductor at Green Opera 2023-24, and Assistant Conductor at the Opera de Massy 2020-21. She is a participant in the 57th and 58th editions of the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors. In 2021 she graduated in Conducting and Composition from the École Normale de Musique de Paris and the following year she studied conducting contemporary repertoire at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana. She has participated in masterclasses with Marin Alsop, Jorma Panula, Sir Mark Elder, Daniele Gatti and Antony Hermus and has conducted the Philharmonia, Orchestre Victor Hugo, Orchestra Dijon Bourgogne, Dartington Festival Orchestra, Ensemble Variances and Ensemble des Apaches. At the RNCM she has assisted the BBC and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and conducted in workshops with the Hallé and Manchester Camerata. Josephine has a music degree Music from the University of Oxford where she was a choral and instrumental scholar.

Alec Frank-Gemmill (1st year masters) is well-known to audiences in the UK and beyond as a horn player. He has appeared as a soloist with dozens of orchestras and recently made his debut performing Ligeti’s Hamburg Concerto at the Philharmonie in Berlin. As an orchestral musician Alec has worked regularly with the LSO, Concertgebouw, and Chamber Orchestra of Europe, as well as various groups performing on period instruments. Over the last few years his focus has shifted to conducting. In 2022 Alec had his first professional engagement as a director, with the Norrbotten Chamber Orchestra in Sweden. He has also conducted the Gothenburg Symphony and BBC Philharmonic in rehearsal and acted as Ryan Bancroft’s assistant with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Alec has attended masterclasses with Paavo Järvi, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Donato Renzetti. He is the founder and director of the Odin Ensemble, a group performing on instruments from the early 20th Century.

Harry Lai (1st year Masters) is a Hong Konger conductor. He completed his masters of piano performance with Murray McLachlan at the RNCM, appearing in many RNCM orchestras and ensembles. He is also the recent recipient of 2nd prize in the Avril Coleridge-Taylor competition. Harry has assisted orchestras such as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and BBC Philharmonic, and in masterclasses conducted Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchestra Pforzheim (SWDKO), English Symphony Orchestra, amongst others. He has studied or participated in masterclasses with Mark Heron, Peter Eötvös, Gregory Vajda, Howard Williams, Douglas Bostock. Recent highlights include assisting John Storgårds and BBC Philharmonic for their BBC Proms appearance. Starting in September 2023, he will be the assistant conductor of Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra. His studies are generously supported by the Dorothy Smith Scholarship and an RNCM entrance scholarship.

Hannah Trudgeon (1st year Masters) Hannah grew up as a keen member of the Berkshire Music Trust, learning piano, flute, cello and singing. She spent many years with the Berkshire Youth Orchestra and Choir, and the National Youth Training Choir of Great Britain. After joining the Royal Marines Band Service in 2002 to study piano and clarinet, Hannah enjoyed drafts to the Portsmouth, Dartmouth, Collingwood and Scotland bands and as piano instructor at the Royal Marines School of Music. A particular highlight was performing a celebration of Beethoven’s piano works on the Royal Albert Hall stage, which she had arranged for piano and wind band. As bandmaster at RM Band Collingwood, she conducted the band at many prestigious events and concerts, before commissioning to become a Director of Music in January 2023. Hannah gained a distinction in Masters studies in Composition under Adam Gorb and was delighted that a joint wind band of RNCM and Royal Marines Band members premiered her work ‘Winter Portrait’ in 2022.

FIRST VIOLINS
Marie Schreer (leader)
Zinan Wang
Jack Callaghan
Archie Freeman
Richard Dunne
Emily Harpley Gebbels
Nina Doig
Dylan Latham
Luke Chu
Siyu Chen
Xin Ju

SECOND VIOLINS
Christopher Newton
Audrey Doyle
Emma Robinson
Hanna Shamihova
Yiyang Sun
Finn Nguyen
Ellie Marks
Ellie Shek
Charlie Roberts
Shanglin Zhan

VIOLAS
Michaela Jones
Estelle Gonzalez
Kirin Howat
Henry Grant
Eden Saunders
Xavier Williams

CELLOS
Clemens Fera
Ellen Quinn
Sabrina Giovanardi
Maya Tucker
Ed Chua
Congyuan Xiao

BASSES
Bryn Davies
Joana Moura
Marcelo Nunes Rodrigues

FLUTES
Jessica PunLai Yuen (picc)
Natalie Ngai (picc)
Bohan Zheng

OBOES
Imogen Morris
Yishuang Li
Will Graham (cor)

CLARINETS
Nathan Kenworthy
Yuxuan Wang
Annabel Santner (bass)

 SAXOPHONES
Carys Nunn
Joao Correia
Taisiia Holovko
Emily Manson

BASSOONS
Erline Moreira
Beatriz Carvalho

HORNS
David Tillotson
Samuel Froggatt
Esmé MacBride-Stewart
Fran Penny

TRUMPETS
Lewis Barton
Jingrong Hua
Blake Humphrey
Edward Taylor

TROMBONES
Freddie Hughes
Nathan Joseph
Joseph Mahin

TUBAS
Charlie Cresswell
Ben Russon

TIMPANI
Man Nok Fung

PERCUSSION
Ho Wong
Tom Hall
Zhao Liu

HARP
Ellie Wood
Holly-Alice Morton

PIANO
Michal Korzeniewski