OUR PATRONS

We are very proud to have two distinguished composers as patrons of NMB – Michael Finnissy and Sally Beamish OBE.
We are delighted that Sally Beamish received an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2020.
Michael Finnissy
Sally Beamish

FORTHCOMING CONCERTS in 2023

• On Saturday 18 November at All Saints church in Hove at 7.30 pm Brass Fusion, the Sussex-based brass ensemble, will give a very varied concert including new pieces by NMB members:
Martyn Adams, Phil Baker, Ellen Blackshaw, Jonathan Clark, Simon Gower, John Hawkins, Helgi R. Ingvarsson, John Petley, Guy Richardson,  Paul Terry and Clive Whitburn

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RECENT CONCERTS

• Sunday 12 November soprano Judy Mackerras with Howard Beech (piano) gave the first performance of John Hawkins‘ ‘Child’s Play’ songs, together with songs by Mozart, Wolf, Poulenc and Malcolm Williamson’s cycle ‘A Child’s Garden’.  .

• Saturday 28 October, Yoko Ono played piano works by Chis Gander ‘Haiku for the Four Seasons’ and John Hawkins ‘Period Pieces’ together with Children’s Corner and Estampes by Debussy at St Mary de Haura in Shoreham-on-Sea.

• On 5 October at 8pm West Pier Voices gave a concert of contemporary choral music at the Ballroom, Church of the Annunciation, Coleman Street, Brighton  including work by Helgi R. Invarsson and many others.

• Wednesday 28 June, Yoko Ono played works by Chis Gander (‘Haiku for the Four Seasons’) and John Hawkins (‘Period Pieces’) together with ‘Children’s Corner’ and ‘Estampes’ by Debussy at St Nicholas Church, Brighton. The concert will be repeated in the Adur Festival on 28th October.

• On Saturday 17th June, Robert Hinchliffe’s new choral piece, “According to Sirach” was performed by the Worthing Choral Society at St George’s Church, Worthing.

• On Sunday 18 June members of Musicians of All Saints played Ellie Blackshaw‘s ‘Three Pieces for String Quartet’, Haydn’s String Quartet Op. 50 no.1, and E. J. Moeran’s String Quartet in E flat major.

• Ros Hanson-Laurent (viola) and Steve Carroll-Turner (piano) performed John Hawkins‘ ‘Urizen’ on 9 June as part of the Brighton Unitarian Church’s lunchtime concerts

• Following their NMB concert in November, the Leto Ensemble (flute, clarinet and piano) gave a further event on 27 May at the Brighton Friends Meeting House of music by NMB composers (Phil Baker, Peter Copley, Chris Gander, Ric Graebner, John Petley and Guy Richardson) alongside works by Enesco, Messager and Saint-Saëns.

• On 30 April, CoMA Sussex performed at One Church Brighton. The ensemble performed works by Howard Skempton, Naomi Pinnock, Gregory Rose and local composers Diego Monsalve and NMB member Paul G Terry. 

• On 15 April at 5:30pm, Ellie Blackshaw gave a violin recital featuring works by Peter Copley, Bach, Bartók and Hindemith at St Laurence Church, East St, Falmer.

• On 24 February at 8pm at Sutton Barn Community Club, Sutton Corner, Seaford, BN25 4QW. Phil Baker performed three arrangements of his ‘Cabaret Songs’ together with Brian Rodgers (alto saxophone).

• On March 4th, Musicians of All Saints included Ric Graebner‘s Oboe Concerto in their concert at All Saints, Lewes.

• On February 16th, there was a special collaboration to an enthusiastic full house at the Rosehill in Brighton as several New Music Brighton composers performed Terry Riley’s classic piece ‘In C’ and created a unique and evolving performance of NMB’s own ‘In C-19′. ‘The Skeleton Ensemble’ is a group of musicians, some of whom are NMB composers, featuring a wide and unusual variety of instruments!

• On 27th January Peter Copley‘s 3rd Quartet was featured in the Nicholas Yonge Society concert given by the Brompton String Quartet, together with quartets by Haydn and Grażyna Bacewicz.

• The organ recital on 28 January at 4.30 pm at All Saints, Hove was the first ever New Music Brighton organ recital. It is was given by David Stevens the Director of Music at All Saints.

• Three new pieces by NMB members Julian Broughton, John Hawkins and Barry Mills were commissioned by pianist Nancy Cooley for a concert in support of the charity Freedom From Torture. The sold-out recital was on Sunday 5 February at St. Anne’s Church in Lewes and raised a wonderful £3,461.29 for the charity.

•  On November 18th the Leto Ensemble (flute, clarinet and piano) will  played as part of the Music and Wine at St Luke’s series.
The concert included solos, duos and trios by New Music Brighton members Martyn Adams, Terry Albright, John Hawkins, Helgi R Ingvarsson, Barry Mills, Lluis Nadal and Clive Whitburn. There were also be trios by Maurice Emmanuel and by Australian pianist, composer and music therapist John Carmichael.

• On Saturday 19th November the concert by Musicians of All Saints at St Michael’s Church in Lewes included John Alexander‘s Cleave (First performance of the revised and expanded version) together with pieces by Purcell, Elgar and Mendelssohn.

• On November 14th Phil Baker‘s piece Freeze Frame 5 for Solo Piano was part of the ‘Arts Junction’ event at The Red Room, The Victoria Institute, Arundel.

• The final Contemporary Music Prom took place on 24th July at AMP Studios, London SE15 1NL. Events included pieces by NMB members Ric Graebner, Phil Baker and Roger Harmer.

• On Friday 17th June at 7.30 pm Julian Broughton (piano) and Miriam Teppich (violin) played the premiere of Julian Broughton‘s own Seven Days (seven short pieces for piano alone, written on consecutive days. The concert also included Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne, Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, Bach’s G minor Partita for solo violin, and the Sonata for Violin and Piano by Elgar.

•  On Sunday 19 June at 6pm, Musicians of All Saints performed the premiere of NMB composer Guy Richardson‘s Turning Point for string quartet. The programme also included quartets by Haydn and Schubert. The concert formed part of their magical ‘candlelit concerts’ series, at Hamsey Old Church.

• On May 10th at 1.10 pm  at the Chapel Royal, Brighton, Imogen Whitehead (trumpet and flugelhorn ) and Jennifer Walsh ( piano )  played ‘Evening and Night’ by Barry Mills and works by J. Clarke, Schumann, Schubert, and Price.

• On May 11th the Riot Ensemble‘s concert was part of the Brighton Festival and included pieces by two NMB members – Peter Copley and Patrick Harrex and among the players was NMB member Adam Swayne.

• The Aurora Trio (flute, viola and harp) gave a concert with the London Composers Forum on Thursday 5th May. It included new pieces by three members of New Music Brighton (Martyn Adams, Ellie Blackshaw and John Hawkins). The concert was be at Lauderdale House in Highgate.

• On 27 March The Brighton Singers celebrated 25 years of music-making with a special anniversary concert.The choir included the first performance of Farewell for unaccompanied choir by Guy Richardson, commissioned for this concert.

• On 19th March 7.00pm, at Holy Trinity church, Cuckfield Ensemble Reza will be performing Barry Mills’ new String Sextet. The programme also includes the sextet by Brighton-born Frank Bridge, Walton’s String quartet No 2 and music by Elgar and Vaughan Williams. https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/booking/select/RdiEJKhzXNnT

• Long-standing NMB member Peter Copley had his 60th birthday concert on 21st March at St Paul’s church, West Street, Brighton. The concert included the first performance of Peter’s 3rd String Quartet as well as works by Haydn and Frank Bridge.

• On Sunday 27 March at 5.00 pm in St Paul’s Church, West Street, Brighton The Brighton Singers celebrated 25 years of music-making with a special anniversary concert. The choir included the first performance of Farewell for unaccompanied choir by Guy Richardson, commissioned for this concert, also two other commissions, written by Michael Finnissy and Rob Lane. 

• A concert in memory of Kenneth V. Jones, New Music Brighton’s oldest member, including many of his works, was played in the Seaford Music Society‘s season on 6th March 2022.
Click here to read a full obituary

• On 1st March the Mistral Wind Quartet included pieces by Peter Copley (Die Nacht ist Kommen) and Phil Baker  (Wellington’s Waltz and The Dances of Fireguard Rumble from Four Ostinato Pieces) at the Chapel Royal, Brighton.

• The premiere of John Hawkins‘s ‘Period Pieces’ – four short pieces (Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue) – was on 25th January at the Chapel Royal, Brighton played by Yoko Ono.

• On January 15th the Musicians of All Saints gave a concert at St Mary’s Church, Kemptown, Brighton which included NMB member Adam Swayne as soloist in the first performance of Ferdinand Ries’ (1784 – 13) first concerto in its original version discovered by Adam. The concert also included a performance of John Hawkins ‘Another Orpheus’ for string orchestra and Haydn’s Symphony no. 99.

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On 14 November the Musicians of All Saints  gave a live concert of Vivaldi’s Concerto in G major, RV 146; the first performance of NMB’s Peter Copley’s Music of Exile for Viola and Thirteen Solo Strings; David Jenner’s The Sky Above Cissbury for String Orchestra and Holst’s St Paul’s Suite for Strings. The viola soloist for the premiere of Peter Copley’s new composition was Raghad Haddad.
The concert was at All Saints in Lewes

• 26 September 

The Musicians of All Saints returned to the All Saints Centre in Lewes on Saturday 26 September for their first live concert since March. The programme included Mozart, Robin Milford and the 2nd performance of NMB member Barry Mills’s Nocturnal Landscapes – Bright Morning Star for Violin and Strings. The concert ended with the ever-popular Capriol suite by Peter Warlock. The audience was limited to 35 under Covid restrictions but greeted the return to live music with joy.

• 14th August

CoMA(Contemporary Music for All) celebrated its third festival. Events were held across the UK and Europe and St Mary’s Church, Kemptown BN2 1PR was one of the Festival centres, offering a weekend of participation in new music for all ages and abilities.

Brighton.http://www.coma.org/whats-on/events/festival/

• On March 7th Veilings ii ‘…a cloud of unknowing…’ by Phil Baker was performed by Musicians of All Saints conducted by Andrew Sherwood with Anne Hodgson flute solo at St Michael’s Church, Lewes.

• 1st March
World Premiere of ‘Salamanca 1936’ by Peter Copley with Sir John Tomlinson, bass, Brighton Youth Orchestra (Andrew Sherwood, conductor) and performers from Trinity Laban Conservatoire at St Bartholomew’s Church, Ann Street Brighton.
The concert also included ‘Ekstasis’ by John Tavener (written for the Brighton Youth Orchestra) and Handel’s ‘Zadok the Priest’

• The Lunchtime Concert at the Chapel Royal in Brighton given on February 18th by Steve Dummer, clarinet and Yoko Ono, piano included the Clarinet Sonata by John Hawkins together with pieces by Gerald Finzi and Joseph Horowitz.

• On Friday 24 January Pavlos Carvalho and Sarah Dubost-Carvalho gave a concert of pieces for solo cello and cello duos including the new Cello Duo (2019) by Barry Mills  and pieces by by J.S. Bach, F. A. Kummer (1797-1879) and J.B. Barriers (1707-1747).
St. Luke’s Church, Queens Park Road, Brighton, BN2 9ZB, 7.30 pm

• 18th January
NMB’s Ric Graebner directed the third concert in Musicians of All Saints ‘Living British Composers 2’ series. The concert included his own Clarinet Concerto and Guy Richardson‘s ‘Houriya’ (Freedom) plus the Schubert Rondo for Violin and Strings and Mendelssohn’s String Symphony No.6.

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2019

December 6th 
St Luke’s church, Queen’s Park Road, BN2 9ZB
Ellie Blackshaw, violin and Michiko Shimanuki, piano.
NMB members Barry Mills and John Hawkins are celebrating their 70th birthdays.
Ellie Blackshaw and pianist/composer Michiko Shimanuki will perform music by Mills, Hawkins, Mozart, Debussy, Rachmaninov and Shimanuki.

November 15th 7.30 pm in collaboration with Music & Wine at St Luke’s, St Luke’s church, Queen’s Park Road
Ivana Peranic, ‘cello and and Rachel Fryer, piano
A huge programme of music for ’cello and piano including pieces by no less than ten members of New Music Brighton:
Phil Baker, Jonathan Clark, Peter Copley, Ric Graebner, Willian Johnston, John Hawkins, Patrick Harrex, Marion Maidment-Evans, John Petley and Guy Richardson plus the Debussy sonata!

November 9th 7.45 pm The Musicians of All Saints concert at the All Saints Centre, Lewes, included two pieces by NMB members:
the second performance of the ‘Double Concerto’ for two violins and string orchestra by Peter Copley and the first performance of ‘Grounds’ for oboe and strings by John Hawkins..

October 12th 5.30 pm
The Crypt Gallery, 23 Church St, Seaford.
The Ashworth and Rattenbury Guitar Duo played music ranging from Vivaldi to Granados and Machado and two pieces by Phil Baker.

October 5th
Our 25th anniversary celebration on 5th October at the Friends’ Meeting House included 14 pieces by NMB composers, all wonderfully played by members of the group. The very first concert, at the Chapel Royal, back in 1994 included 19 pieces and two intervals!

27th September 
Friends’ Meeting House, Ship St, Brighton
Siân Philipps, violin and Constance Chow, piano played music by Wellesz, Mendelssohn, Grace Williams and John Hawkins in an event which included a talk by Andy Winter, CEO of the Brighton Housing Trust.

On Saturday 22 June an NMB concert, for solo and duo guitars, was at the Friends’ Meeting House, Ship St., Brighton. The guitarists were Jon Rattenbury and Brian Ashworth. The programme included pieces by NMB members Phil Baker, Patrick Harrex, Guy Richardson, Peter Copley, John Hawkins and Barry Mills.