Arlene Sierra’s “Butterflies Remember a Mountain” will receive its UK premiere at the Cheltenham Music Festival with Nicola Benedetti and her piano trio. An Evening with Nicola Benedetti will take place at the Cheltenham Town Hall on 3 July and is set to be the Festival’s most well-attended premiere. The piece was first performed and toured by the trio in Germany in 2013 to critical acclaim.
Dr Sierra’s duo “Avian Mirrors” will also be performed at the Festival. Members of the Fidelio Trio, one of the UK’s foremost ensembles dedicated to contemporary music, will perform at the Pitville Pump Room, Cheltenham, on 5 July.
In addition to attending rehearsals and performances, Dr Sierra will be a teacher and panellist at the Cheltenham Composer Academy, where she will coach workshops and speak about topics and trends in contemporary music.
Saturday 5 July will also see the London premiere of “Urban Birds”, Dr Sierra’s recent New Music Biennial commission, at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre. The performance will be broadcast by BBC Radio 3 and streamed by NMC Records.
“Urban Birds” is written for three pianos with sampled birdsong and percussion, and brings together three international soloists: Sarah Nicholls, Xenia Pestova, and Kathleen Supové as part of the UK-wide New Music Biennial. The Southbank performance will include an interview with the composer and performers by Radio Three’s Sara Mohr-Pietsch, followed by a repeat performance.
The New Music Biennial weekend at the Southbank Centre runs from 4-6 July 2014 and offers a free concerts, workshops, and new music. Dr Sierra will be a panelist in the opening forum, a debate on Musical Lineage on Friday July 4th, and will be teaching at Composer Surgeries as part of the weekend’s events.
A full listing of events is available at: http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/new-music-biennial
(article via Cardiff School of Music)