April and May 2026 was extremely busy but worth the effort.
Bax Editions
I worked closely with Enyi Okpara and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra on my new edition of Bax's Tintagel. Bournemouth premiered the piece in 1919 so it is a lovely moment for them to be the first to play the first critical edition!
In similar news, Tintagel was performed again at the end of May, by Kenneth Woods and the English Symphony Orchestra.
In other Bax news, my set of parts for his Second Symphony were used for the Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert under John Gibbons. He and the orchestra have now committed to performing the rest of the symphonies' cycle over the next ten years. A new score of that will be worked on over the summer.
As part of the NSO concert of Bax's Second Symphony, the Sir Arnold Bax Society held their second AGM and also hosted a pre-concert talk held by Eric McElroy.
Composition
One of my new compositions - Six Pictures after Hiroshi Yoshida - was premiered at the Bristol New Music Festival, by the Shui Mo ensemble (of which I am normally cellist, but for this piece I conducted its premiere). I played cello in the remainder of the pieces.
Another new composition - Tremblem - was premiered as part of a set of student works by the Bristol University Symphony Orchestra under Neal Farwell.
Conducting
A new season with the Cardiff Video Game Orchestra began and I will be conducting a new variety of excellent game music! It includes some of my favourites, like Sims 4, and Xenoblade (which is very funky!)
My final season with the Bristol Symphonia Society Symphony Orchestra has also begun, with repertoire including Gustav Mahler, Eric Coates, and John Williams to round off my two years in charge. It's been a remarkable journey and I've ticked off so many great composers. I'm particularly proud of supporting up-and-coming student composers and instrumentalists through the composition and concerto competitions.
Instrumental Performances
I was part of the Elgar Festival's Come-and-Play Day, working on Froissart and In The South alongside ESO musicians. Pleasure also to catch up with conductor Joe Davies, who premiered my Worcestershire Rhapsody a few years ago.
I also had a number of performances on cello across the South Wales region and also in Somerset. One perk of this facet of my life is getting to travel to some of the finest and most beautiful locations across the country.
Watching
I watched Welsh National Opera's first show of the season - Wagner's Flying Dutchman. Despite the iconic opening, this was remarkably the first time I've seen Wagner live.