NLCE joins forces with Dame Evelyn Glennie for a spectacular performance at Lake District Summer Festival
In a remarkable event that opened the 2023 Lake District Summer Festival, the New London Chamber Ensemble collaborated with the iconic Dame Evelyn Glennie for an extraordinary concert experience at The Coro, Ulverston. The ensemble, celebrated for their innovative approach to classical music, joined forces with Dame Evelyn Glennie to present a captivating program at the intersection of musical brilliance and social awareness. The performance showcased two world premieres by composers Ailís Ní Ríain (Revelling and Reckoning) and Julian Philips (Strange Encounters) , emphasizing themes related to hearing impairment. Filled with rich compositions and profound messages, the concert highlighted the power of inclusivity in the arts.
New recording project: NLCE & Dame Evelyn Glennie
It was an absolute pleasure for us to work with composer Ailís Ní Ríain, Dame Evelyn Glennie and conductor Darren Bloom to record Ní Ríain’s fantastic new sextet Revelling and Reckoning, for winds & percussion this spring. We were delighted to be able to commission this piece which will appear on Ní Ríain’s debut album, The Last Time I Died, recorded and released by NMC Recordings. The Last Time I Died brings together a group of musically diverse artists performing a rich selection of Ní Ríain’s chamber and small-scale works.
A big welcome back to Meyrick Alexander
We are delighted to welcome Meyrick Alexander back to the NLCE as permanent bassoonist in the ensemble. As well as performing with the NLCE, Meyrick is currently the principal bassoon with the London Chamber Orchestra and professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
Prior to this Meyrick held the position of Principal Bassoon at the Philharmonia Orchestra for 30 years and has played with nearly every orchestra in the UK!
Meyrick re-joins the NLCE after a short break.
New recordings with PARMA
The NLCE is delighted to announce that we have been recording new material for PARMA recordings. The new project features tracks such as Moon Jazz: River on the Moon” by Loretta Notareschi
“Five, Four by Four” by Brian Field and “Woodwind Quintet” by Andrew Lewinter which were recorded in Nov 2021 at Air Studios.
More soon….
Whitstable Music Society Performance
We were delighted to perform for Whitstable Music Society on 27 November 2021. In such challenging times, it was such an honour to be able to perform a concert featuring Mozart– Adagio and Allegro in F minor K 594, Nielsen– Wind Quintet Op.43, Barber– Summer Music Op.31.
NLCE received warm welcome in new London festival: Summer Music in City Churches
Breath of Hope: Monday 25 June 2018, 7.30pm, St Stephen Walbrook
We were delighted to be joined by the wonderful Michael Dussek on piano to perform a bespoke programme commemorating 100 years since the end of World War I, as part of the inaugural Summer Music in City Churches Festival. We received a very warm welcome from the audience, and very much enjoyed performing in the beautiful St Stephen Walbrook.
Side by side project with Royal Academy of Music
In July 2018, we were delighted to work with the Moriarty Wind Quintet, Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellows at the RAM, on a professional recording of the dectet we commissioned from Philip Cashian: Settala’s Machine, as well as a film about the project. Manfredo Settala (1600-1680) was an Italian nobleman and collector of oddities as well as a skilled maker of automata. His most famous invention was a mechanical devil which can still be seen on display at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan. In seventeenth century Italy automata were theologically and culturally familiar things and mechanical devils were rife. Poised in sacristies, they were grotesque and bawdy, made horrible faces, howled and stuck out their tongues to instil fear in the hearts of sinners. The Satan- machines rolled their eyes and flailed their arms and wings, some even had moveable horns and crowns and breathed smoke through their nostrils.
Having premiered the dectet at the RWCMD, we have since performed it at the Cheltenham Festival, Trinity College, Junior College and Academy and with members of the National Youth Chamber Orchestra.
The film was made in the beautiful new Angela Burgess Recital Room at the Royal Academy, and you can watch it here or listen to an audio recording here.
New London Chamber Ensemble returns to NYCO
After hard-fought auditions last November, we had a great 2018 residency with the National Youth Chamber Orchestra in April – three days of intensive fun-packed rehearsals and coaching sessions with ten fabulous young wind players. Next year’s dates will be announced soon!
Check out the new web-page .
NMC Recordings CD still available!
The NLCE’s new CD of music by contemporary composer Martin Butler, ‘Dirty Beasts’, is now available to buy. Featuring narration by Simon Callow.
Watch Martin Butler discuss ‘Dirty Beasts’
“Simon Callow is splendid as the narrator and the New London Chamber Ensemble play with verve and commitment…”
The NLCE’s new NMC Recordings disc of Martin Butler’s music receives a glowing review in Gramophone Magazine. Read the full review here.
“The piece I enjoyed most was Butler’s wind quintet, Down-Hollow Winds… played by members of the New London Chamber Ensemble… I enjoyed it a lot in this well-balanced recording from the NMC label… It’s an eloquent showcase of Butler’s music”
A excellent review for the NLCE’s new NMC Recordings disc on BBC Radio 3’s ‘Record Review’, 7 May 2016.
Listen to the review (c.20 minutes)
“Accompanied by the New London Chamber Ensemble, the lip-smacking Simon Callow is great as the narrator”
“… Just relish the intricacy and colour of Down-Hollow Winds for wind quintet…”
The NLCE’s new NMC Recordings disc receives a four-star review in The Sunday Times. Read the full review here.
“New release from NMC the best so far this year”
‘Shock of the New’ reviews the NLCE’s new NMC Recordings disc. Read the full review here.