Composers’ Academy Vol 1, 2017

The Philharmonia Composers’ Academy, presented in partnership with the Royal Philharmonic Society and part of the Orchestra’s Music of Today series, annually offers the opportunity for three talented emerging composers to write an original chamber work for a Philharmonia Ensemble.

Their 10-minute new works are premiered by an ensemble of Philharmonia musicians at a Music of Today concert at the Royal Festival Hall. In addition to this high profile performance, the composers are guided through the writing process by Music of Today Artistic Director Unsuk Chin, as well as benefiting from specially curated seminars, masterclasses, instrument exploration sessions and a ‘works in progress’ workshop.

In 2017 a recording and release on the NMC Recordings label has been included, enabling the works to have an international platform via online stores and streaming platforms.

This album features ensemble works by the three young composers in the Philharmonia Composers’ Academy 2017: Lisa Illean’s Januaries evokes memories of summers spent as a child in Queensland, Australia – “of bull grass, my grandmother’s choko vines and nights thick with heat and cicadas”; Gareth Moorcraft’s Reflections (after Gibbons) takes inspiration from the Fantasias for viola consort by English composer Orlando Gibbons; The Hunter’s Funeral by Donghoon Shin, is the composer’s response to a woodcut of the same name, created in 1890 by Moritz von Schwind.