News

The music of Serbian-born, Canadian-resident composer Ana Sokolovic receives a London focus with a concert in the Philharmonia’s ‘Music of Today’ series. The programme at the Southbank Centre on 19 October includes the UK premieres of Jeu des Portraits and Ciaccona.

Symphony No.1 by Joan Armatrading, one of Britain’s great singer songwriters, receives its premiere at the Southbank Centre in London on 24 November by the acclaimed Chineke! Orchestra.

October sees the launch of a new revised and corrected edition of all 15 Shostakovich symphonies, bearing fruit from the merging of publishers Boosey & Hawkes and Sikorski. The first group of four releases spans the composer’s life from his youthful Symphony No.1 through Nos.9 and 11 to his enigmatic farewell with No.15.

The 90th anniversaries of birth of three late-20th century masters are celebrated in 2024: Harrison Birtwistle (15 July), Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September) and Alfred Schnittke (24 November).

The latest choral work by Norwegian composer Kim André Arnesen receives its premiere at the Barbican’s Milton Court in London on 13 October. Sofi Jeannin conducts the combined choristers of the BBC Singers and the New Young Voice Collective in Our Living Future, exploring themes around the stewardship of our planet.

The Hague plays host to a major focus from 15 to 22 October on the work of Lera Auerbach, who is celebrating her 50th birthday during the festival. Repertoire across eight concerts includes the Dutch premiere of Symphony No.5 ‘Paradise Lost’ with the Residentie Orchestra conducted by the composer, plus a new choral work for the Netherlands Chamber Choir.

Following successful performances in Prague, Amsterdam and Leipzig, Detlev Glanert’s new Kafka-inspired song-symphony reaches London’s Barbican on 24 November with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

The BBC Philharmonic has announced that Anna Clyne is its new Composer in Association until 2026. The role begins in October with the UK premiere of Clyne’s recent saxophone concerto for Jess Gillam, Glasslands, the first of three commissioned works for the BBC Philharmonic.

This month sees the release of the first recording of Ethyl Smyth’s compact opera Der Wald - a great public success for the composer when first staged in Berlin, London and New York. The Resonus Classics recording is conducted by John Andrews and features Natalya Romaniw and Robert Murray in the leading roles.

Directed by and starring Bradley Cooper, “Maestro” was unveiled at the Venice Film Festival on September 2, and will later be released in theatres and on Netflix.

Reich’s new work for large ensemble with voices premieres this fall with the New York Philharmonic, joined by Synergy Vocals. The work travels to Paris in February, presented as part of a major retrospective of the composer’s music at Festival Présences 2024.

The award-winning Boosey & Hawkes / Simrock edition of Médée, first performed in 2008, freed this classic opera from all the distortions of the 19th and 20th centuries. Now the Teatro Real is presenting a new production of this French original version, supplemented with recitatives by early music specialist Alan Curtis.

Critics raved over Opera Theatre of St. Louis’s summer production of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah—directed by acclaimed soprano Patricia Racette, and conducted by Gemma New, praising the 1955 opera for its enduring appeal and ever-relevant themes.

On October 5-7, Steve Reich’s Jacob’s Ladder is premiered by the New York Philharmonic, Synergy Vocals, and Jaap van Zweden. The work travels to Paris in February, with more performances to be announced. The composer discusses his new work for large ensemble and voices—the rich imagery that inspired the piece, and his evolving relationship with pulse.

This fall, composer David T. Little unveils his theatrical choral piece—a “ritual grotesquerie,” premiered by The Crossing and the Bergamot Quartet in Philadelphia.

Quarter Days, a new work by Anna Clyne, receives its world premiere on October 22 with the Euclid Quartet and South Bend Symphony Orchestra, led by Alastair Willis.

A football-themed overture ends a major community project at James MacMillan’s The Cumnock Tryst festival in Ayrshire, also featuring new songs for soprano Danielle de Niese. This autumn also brings the Australian premiere of MacMillan’s Stabat Mater in Sydney.

A new score for the classic Weimar movie Varieté is the latest in Elena Kats-Chernin’s series of film collaborations. The first performance with live orchestra is at a Bozar Cine-concert in Brussels on 15 September with the Belgian National Orchestra.

The music of British composer Lloyd Moore is characterised by poetry, invention and craftsmanship. A selection of his chamber and choral works is now published by Boosey & Hawkes.

Edgar Meyer has composed new music as part of Joshua Bell’s The Elements, a suite of five commissioned works for violin and orchestra by leading American composers.