Concert follows a year of mentoring with LPO Composer-in-Residence Brett Dean, workshops and professional development
This year’s London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) Young Composers scheme culminates on Thursday 13 July at 7.30pm at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall with its annual Debut Sounds concert, this year entitled Where to Begin? The 2022/23 cohort have created five new works inspired by other artforms, guided and conducted by LPO Composer-in-Residence Brett Dean.
The LPO is committed to supporting the next generation of orchestral musicians and composers through professional development opportunities. The LPO Young Composers scheme specifically aims to find and support the progression of talented orchestral composers, offering a platform to develop their compositional voice and wider industry knowledge, all under the mentorship of the LPO’s Composer-in-Residence.
At the start of the year, Dean set the Young Composers a brief to each write an eight-minute orchestral work inspired by another artform. Every artist needs an idea as a starting point. Where do these ideas come from? And what happens when we look for inspiration in disciplines different from our own? The brief encouraged the Young Composers to look beyond their regular approaches to composition and discover the creative potential that can be found in exploring the work of artists in areas other than music.
Each composer has benefitted from four one-to-one seminars with Dean; one-to-one sessions with a selection of LPO musicians; a three-hour orchestral workshop in the spring to allow participants to experiment with new ideas, talk to players and receive feedback; professional development sessions and opportunities to engage with artists working with the LPO; and further workshop/rehearsals with the ensemble in the lead-up to the concert.
The five new works take their leads from artforms including etching, animation, painting and circus. The composers and their pieces are:
- Jakob Bragg Through gates unseen inspired by the artist Robert Andrew
- Philip Dutton Etched inspired by the physical movement and experience of etching, and by artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi
- Zakiya Leeming Eagle in the Ropes inspired by aerial arts
- Matt London there must be more nature inspired by the artwork of Hundertwasser
- Tayla-Leigh Payne Picture this… inspired by short films by Norman McLaren and Stan Brakhage
Each work will be performed by a chamber orchestra of 30 musicians comprising LPO players and Foyle Future Firsts, the LPO’s programme that bridges the transition between education and the professional platform for outstanding early-career orchestral musicians.
Priority booking for LPO Friends opens at 10am on Tuesday 9 May and general sale will be announced in due course. Tickets priced £5 and available via lpo.org.uk or call the Box Office on 020 7840 4242.
The LPO Young Composers programme 2022/23 is generously supported by Allianz Musical Insurance, the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, the Garrick Charitable Trust, the Marchus Trust and the Vaughan Williams Foundation.
The Foyle Future Firsts Development Programme is generously funded by the Foyle Foundation with additional support from the Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust and The Thriplow Charitable Trust.