LSO Jerwood Composer+ supports early-career composers in planning and delivering two artistic projects, with two composers selected each year for a 15-month placement. Mentored by LSO staff, they are encouraged to develop entrepreneurial skills around programming for specific audiences, planning, marketing, budgeting, fundraising and evaluation.
The 2023/24 composers were Anselm McDonnell [see my review of his recent disc, Kraina] and Rufus Isabel Elliot, and some of the fruits of their labours are going to be apparent as two LSO Jerwood Composer+ showcases at LSO St Luke’s are curated by Anselm McDonnell and Rufus Isabel Elliot.
On Saturday 12 October 2024, The Expanded Violin, curated by Anselm McDonnell, features music by McDonnell, Judith Ring, Leo Chadburn, Kahlevi Aho, Catherine Lamb and Kaija Saariaho, performed by four violinists, Mira Benjamin, Larissa O’Grady, Chihiro Ono and Amalia Young. The evening is described as a deep dive into the potential of the violin, expanding and enhancing the instrument through microtonality, electronics, and the sound of multiple violins. The music includes Kalevi Aho’s soulful tribute to the young Finnish violinist Sakari Laukola, Saariaho’s Nocturne, which is an intimate tribute to Lutosławski, and the evening ends with McDonnell’s new work Genesis Cradle, exploring alternative tunings through Just Intonation – intervals that are tuned to fit with the naturally occurring relationships in the harmonic series. [Further details]
On Saturday 16 November 2024, Waves Crash on Old Street, curated by Rufus Isabel Elliott, features music by David Fennessy, Christian Mason, Barbara Monk Feldman, Martin Arnold, Britta Byström, Ryoko Akama, Stuart MacRae and a premiere by Rufus Isabel Elliott. The performers are David Alberman, violin, Louise McMonagle, cello, and Mark Knoop, piano. Elliott has collaborated with artists Miek Zwamborn and Rutger Emmelkamp, based in Knockvologan, on the Isle of Mull, and the evening promises to bring the Isle of Mull’s wild Atlantic rainforest of Tireragan to LSO St Luke’s. [Further details]
