Well…I’ve been happily slammed with work since my appointment in Charlotte late last year (see earlier posts). So slammed, in fact, that I haven’t had the bandwidth to post here in 2024 until now!
The year started with a really fun January gig in London – a collaboration with the inspiring composer/songwriter/singer Gabriel Kahane and the BBC Concert Orchestra. And then, with a few weeks of clear air in my schedule, I took the opportunity to prep the exciting (and varied) repertoire that’s coming thick and fast from early April through the rest of the year.
Highlights include a long-awaited return to my all-time favourite symphony (Brahms 1) with the Charlotte Symphony, followed by the 100th edition of Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts and an edgy programme of contemporary music with the New York Philharmonic, capping the season with the music of Phil Glass – his opera Galileo Galilei as produced by Opera Theatre St. Louis. That all promises to be intense, but also fun!
On a lower flame, as of writing, are some intriguing projects for 2024/25, details of which I can’t mention until announcements happen later this month. But suffice it to say here, that the season will take me through no fewer than three operas, composed in 1914, 1935 and 2021, as well as two major concert works that have been on my bucket list since my childhood. Details to follow!
In the meantime, we’ll soon arrive at the make-or-break end of the Six Nations Tournament, where England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France, Italy duke it out for supremacy in European Rugby. Will Ireland, having gone unbeaten in 2023, become the first team in the history of the Six Nations to win back-to-back Grand Slam titles? Celebration (or commiseration) in the next post!
April 20, 2024
March 4, 2024
December 12, 2023
