Concerts

Four female British composers from different generations and with highly diverse styles: English conductor Jamie Phillips unites energetic female power at its finest in «Women's Voices/UK». This is evident even in the youngest composer, Laura Bowler. She has been described in the media as a «triple threat composer-performer provocatrice» and is considered a rising star in the scene. Her work is multidisciplinary, socially critical and usually expansive in scope.

Her work attracted significant attention at the Donaueschingen Musiktage 2024. Bowler has composed a new work for the Basel Sinfonietta, featuring percussion, piano and solo performance, in which she performs as well. Meanwhile, composer Helen Grime is also active as an oboist. In «River», premiered by Kent Nagano in 2023, she musically captures the essence of rivers: energy and force as well as tranquillity and contemplation.

«As the piece evolves, the material explodes and moves in many new directions.» This is also evident in Anna Clyne's work. In «This Midnight Hour» from 2015, a mysterious atmosphere, seething furore, rapturous lyricism and propulsive drive unite. The work draws inspiration from two poems, one by Juan Ramón Mantecón and the other by Charles Baudelaire.

Grace Williams, a «Grande Dame» of contemporary music from Wales who died in 1977, is also featured. Today, she is somewhat unjustly forgotten, though Benjamin Britten considered his friend to be among the outstanding vocal talents of her era. Her music is characterized by its lyricism and declamation. «Penillion», written in 1955, marks the beginning of her mature creative phase, which is distinctly individual in its expressiveness and Welsh in its coloration.