AUTUMN NEWS 2011

“played with tremendous virtuosity and focus”
The Guardian on the Hind/Vir/Harvey programme
“CHROMA’s excellent ensemble of instrumentalists…
it’s enchanting, as Hansel & Gretel should be – it’s exciting too”
The Times on Hansel & Gretel at Iford
“Marcus Barcham- Stevens's intricate Chinese settings, Dhyana, a tribute to Mahler's Song of the Earth; and David Bruce's brilliantly scored, folk-inspired The North Wind Was a Woman. Both were hugely impressive.”
The Times on CHROMA”s “Earth” programme

The summer raced by in a whirlwind of brand new works at Spitalfields Festival, Soundwaves Festival, GSMD and Tête à Tête – The Opera Festival with Hansel & Gretel in the middle (featuring a hundred fairy cakes on stage and, it being Iford Festival, any amount of home-baked cakes off-stage!)

Rolf Hind’s great new piece “Sit Stand Walk” - premiered at Shoreditch Church - got interesting when the off-stage musicians realized -too late- that in the dusk with the stage lights reflecting off the glass they couldn’t see the conductor… but carried on marvellously... including our harpist Helen Sharp showcasing her newly acquired skills with the whirly tube. Stuart King's guru and Clare O'Connell's sacrificed horse quite stunning, and top performances all round. And we all got a chance to listen to it again when the BBC broadcast it on Radio 3 in August.

Tête à Tête – The Opera Festival (mad scientist edition) skipped – literally in the case of the Glyndebourne and Welsh National Youth Operas’ “instant opera” - through August, with CHROMA involved in new works-in-progress from Rob Fokkens “Love Songs”, Michael Zev Gordon “Icarus” and Stephen McNeff “Daughters of the Elements”. All very different, all with top-notch singers, and all bounced on to stage with short but intense rehearsal - typical of the slightly bonkers energy seen throughout this wonderful festival of new work – check out the roundups here www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/archive/festival-2011

After a week’s breather straight into the Autumn season – premiering Anna Meredith’s “Railgun” commissioned by Norfolk and Norwich Music Club for their 60th Anniversary. Next up a trip to Skopje, Macedonia to perform a mixed contemporary programme of Macedonian and British composers (repeated at RAM in October), a schools programme with the Roald Dahl Museum based on Joe Cutler’s new piece commissioned by Little Missenden Festival “Chanticleer and the Opera Fox” – for performance with Roderick Williams on 16 October.

Off to Lancaster Institute of Contemporary Art with our “Earth” programme in November for a repeat of the stunning “North Wind Was A Woman” by David Bruce and “Dhyana” by Marcus Barcham-Stevens programme, whilst also performing a run of more brand-new opera at ROH2/Linbury – Tarik O’Regan’s “Heart of Darkness” with a libretto by Tom Phillips – promises to be quite an adventure, and we are reunited with Ollie Gooch with whom we had such a great time at Iford.

Meanwhile we are back at various conservatoires with student composers – kicking off this term at RHUL and RAM with a Simon Holt theme (Shadow Realm at RAM and All Fall Down at RHUL) and next term at Guildhall - Pierrot Lunaire lineup – concert with Loré Lixenberg in July is one to watch out for! The calendar page has the full events list – and you’ll notice our 15th Birthday coming up in February 2012, celebrating with a programme that includes 3 commissions – Michael Zev Gordon, Claudia Molitor and Raymond Yiu – with pieces written for CHROMA by Mark Bowden, Charlie Piper and Ian Wilson at Kings Place. Revving up…

Click here for Performance Calendar

CHROMA gratefully acknowledges financial support from the PRS For Music Foundation