Music of Our Time
21 March · Tuesday · 7:30pm
St Bride’s Church
Fleet Street, London
JAM returns to St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street to open its 2023 season. Music of Our Time is a celebration of new music including works for choir, brass quintet and organ. This vibrant concert showcases 8 pieces, 6 are premieres, including JAM Commissions from Mark-Anthony Turnage, Tara Creme, Daniel Saleeb and works by five successful submitters to JAM’s Call for Music 2022: Simon Beattie, Kerensa Briggs, David Knotts, James Mitchell and Pia Rose Scattergood.
TICKETS
£20 · centre (SOLD OUT)
£15 · side aisle (restricted view)
under 18s free (please book a free ticket)
£5 student tickets on the door with a valid student ID
Please Note: Paper tickets will not be distributed. Please bring either a printed copy or a mobile version of your confirmation email to the concert.
Concert duration: c.70′
PROGRAMME
Soliloquy
Daniel Saleeb
The Song I Came to Sing
Tara Creme
Onyx 30
Mark-Anthony Turnage
The Angel and the Unicorn
Simon Beattie
Severn Meadows
Kerensa Briggs
– and know Him ours –
David Knotts
De Profundis
James Mitchell
folding, unfolding
Pia Rose Scattergood
DESCRIPTION
The concert kicks off Onyx Brass’ 30th anniversary celebration with the first performance of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Onyx 30. The celebrated British composer was co-commissioned by JAM and the exceptional Onyx Brass, longstanding collaborators. Onyx 30 is a sensational new addition to the brass quintet repertoire. As with all Turnage’s music, it is phenomenally idiomatic, well-written and very moving. Written in 4 movements (Fanfare 1, Chorale, Fanfare 2 and Blues), Onyx 30 shows off Mark’s utter command of harmony as well as giving Onyx the opportunity of showing off its trademark sonority. Having recorded it in January, Onyx Brass are delighted to be giving its live world premiere in JAM’s inspirational Music of Our Time concert.
The programme includes the world premiere of The Song I Came to Sing by Tara Creme, winner of JAM’s 2022 President’s Commission. The talented composer participated in JAM’s second Masterclass Series, a collaboration with the VOCES8 Foundation, nurturing UK-based composers in how to better write for voices. JAM’s 2023 Masterclass Series will be launched at the concert. Led by Paul Mealor and the Sacconi Quartet, this iteration will cover writing for string quartet.
“The whole experience of the Masterclass Series was great. I learned so much, about voice and writing for voice, from the workshop stage to performance of my piece in October. I am thrilled that I won the President’s Commission and that I got to write a piece for Music of Our Time.”
JAM is committed to encouraging multiple performances of its commissions. This season’s opening concert revisits Daniel Saleeb’s Soliloquy, first performed at JAM on the Marsh in 2019. The piece for choir, brass quintet and organ is set to text by poet Chloe Stopa-Hunt, in response to a fragment of Shakespeare’s dramatic last scene of Richard II.
“I was keen that each text should stand alone, preserving Chloe’s poetry, so brass sections thread the choral movements together, and give musical context.”
A regular highlight of Music of Our Time is the performance of works submitted to JAM’s annual Call for Music. This concert will present new pieces by five successful submitters, championing music from the next generation of composers from across the UK: Simon Beattie, Kerensa Briggs, David Knotts, James Mitchell and Pia Rose Scattergood.
EVENT VENUE
St Bride’s Church
Fleet Street
London
EC4Y 8AU
History
PRESIDENT'S AWARD
