It seems to be a day for reporting on anniversaries. JAM (the John Armitage Memorial) is celebrating its 25th birthday with a concert at St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street on 26 March 2025. The programme includes the very first JAM commission, Timothy Jackson’s No Answer from 2002 and the most recent, Joseph Phibbs’ Seven Songs of Nature, along with one of their best-known commissions Paul Mealor’s Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal from 2010.
The list of commissions (available on the JAM website) makes for fascinating reading including Thea Musgrave’s The Voices of Our Ancestors from 2015, Steve Martland’s Darwin from 2009, John McCab e’s Songs of the Garden, Jonathan Dove’s The Far Theatricals of the Day, music by Julian Philips, Philip Cashian, Tarik O’Regan, Paul Patterson, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Judith Bingham (including her 2022 Clarinet Concerto) and of course Paul Mealor (including his 2020 Piano Concerto).
The 26 March concert will be performed by the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge Onyx Brass, Simon Hogan (organ), Claire Seaton (soprano), Philippe Durrant (tenor) & James Emerson (bass) with conductor Sarah MacDonald. The programme will also include new works from JAM’s recent Call for Music
Full details from the JAM website.
.jpg?w=160&resize=160,160&ssl=1 "The Trial of Dhegdheer: a Somali folktale is the inspiration for a new community opera bringing together communities of Butetown & Grangetown in Cardiff")
