About Adopt a Composer

Making Music's Adopt a Composer project paired a leisure-time group with an emerging composer, with the composer collaborating with the group on a new piece written specifically for them over the course of a year. Since the project began in 2000, Adopt a Composer has created over 100 partnerships, producing hugely diverse works and performances in the process. Many of the composers have had further performances or commissions as a result of being part of the scheme and several have been nominated for awards, including the British Composer Awards. The talented emerging composers in this section of the Guide, who took part in the project between 2017 and 2019, were selected for their ability to work with leisure-time ensembles. All Making Music members can book them for commissions by contacting them directly via their websites.

You can hear recordings of the Adopt a Composer pieces on our Soundcloud catalogue: soundcloud.com/ makingmusicuk/sets/adopt-acomposer Making Music members can visit the Adopt a Composer legacy project to download and perform rescored versions of some of the project compositions for free at www. makingmusic.org.uk/legacy Adopt a Composer was run by Making Music in partnership with Sound and Music, funded by the PRS Foundation and the Philip and Dorothy Green Music Trust.

Chloe Knibbs is a composer and songwriter exploring storytelling, theatricality and sidelined voices with a particular emphasis on feminist perspectives. Listed in the British Music Collection, her work includes compositions for opera, song and chamber works and has received performances by Birmingham Opera Company, Riot Ensemble and the Hebrides Ensemble. chloeknibbs.com

James Banner is a composer-performer working between jazz, contemporary and improvised music. His music has been supported by Making Music, Initiative Musik and The Berlin State. He lectures at Leeds College of Music, curates a monthly music series in Berlin’s Donau115, and composes and performs with a variety of ensembles across the UK and EU including his own original projects USINE and Voices of Berlin. jamesbanner.com

A guitarist, composer and songwriter, Laura Snowden’s compositions have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio Scotland and commissioned by Birmingham Symphony Hall, International Guitar Foundation and the Park Lane Group. Her song Live Free was performed in 300 simultaneous concerts in 60 countries for the charity Voices for Hospices, and she has appeared with her folk ensemble Tir Eolas at Shakespeare’s Globe, invited by John Williams. laurasnowden.co.uk

Nathan Dearden's music has been commissioned, performed, featured and workshopped by groups including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tippett Quartet, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, National Youth Orchestra of Wales, and Fidelio Trio. His music regularly features in concerts across the UK and overseas, including at the Cheltenham Music Festival, Dartington International Summer School and Festival, International Young Composers’ Meeting and Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music. nathanjamesdearden.com

Nick Olsen is a Scottish-based Welsh composer who, on graduating from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, was awarded the Principal’s Prize for All Round Excellence in the School of Music. He has worked with internationally renowned ensembles including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Ensemble Modern, and Red Note Ensemble. Nicholas has also worked with choruses, junior choruses and brass bands. nicholasolsenmusic.com

Robert Laidlow is a classical composer and jazz saxophonist based in London. His music has been commissioned or performed by organisations including the BBC Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Society, and the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and broadcast across BBC Four and Radio 3 programmes. He wrote Jumpcut/ Longshot for Southampton Concert Wind Band and has also worked with leisure-time ensembles including CoMA (London & Sussex) and the London Accordion Orchestra. robertlaidlow.co.uk

Anna Appleby loves folk and jazz, and specialises in writing contemporary classical music. She composed Turbines for Merchant Sinfonia, which explores nature and technology and captures the identity of the orchestra. She is based in Manchester and has written for artists including the Royal Northern Sinfonia and the BBC Singers. annaappleby.com

Ben See is a composer and performer based in London. He specialises in contemporary vocal music. One of the pieces he wrote for Stoneleigh Youth Orchestra, We Want, balances the everyday things that young people want (like delicious biscuits), with bigger-picture desires about being taken seriously. Ben leads several community choirs, and various other singing projects and vocal workshops. bensee.co.uk

Edmund Hunt's work includes instrumental, vocal and electroacoustic music. He composed Vita Hominum for The Singers, which was inspired by the early medieval history of the group's native Northumbria. Edmund is based in Derbyshire and has a PhD in composition from Birmingham Conservatoire. edmundhunt.com

Esmeralda Conde Ruiz composed The Other Ocean for the Fretful Federation Mandolin Orchestra, to accompany pieces of local film archive material. She is a composer and conductor, and has run interdisciplinary choral projects, including conducting a 500-strong choir of community voices at the Tate Modern. @esmeraldamusic on Twitter

Gaynor Barradell composed Step Up, an imaginary journey by bike through Edinburgh’s streets, for the Edinburgh Concert Band. Based in Scotland, she plays several different instruments for bands and orchestras, teaches instrumental lessons and enjoys helping adult learners begin their journey into musicianship. gaynorbarradell.com

In his composition for Côr Crymych a'r Cylch, Y Gors Fawr, Max Charles Davies set a poem by Eifion Daniels - a member of the choir’s bass section - which explores an enchanted old stone circle in Mynachlod-ddu. Upcoming projects include a concerto for piano and orchestra with narrator, and two more symphonies in his 'Tiny' series. maxcharlesdavies.com

London-based Peter Yarde Martin composed Starsong and Nocturne for the Bellfolk Handbell Ringers, which evokes constellations in the night sky. He has written for professional orchestras, schoolchildren, gospel choirs, brass bands, church organs and electronics, and performs regularly as a trumpeter, keyboardist and singer. peteryardemartin.com

MUSIC & VISION

ILAMS has been championing the classical music of Spain, Portugal and Latin America in the UK for over 20 years. If you’d like to inject some Latino colour and diversity into your programming, we’d love to help!

Repertoire advice / Bespoke programme curation Help sourcing scores & parts Native / expert guest soloists & conductors for choirs & orchestras A unique roster of resident soloists, ensembles and programmes bookable for festivals & concert series Choral workshops on Spanish & Portuguese pronunciation Children’s concerts, workshops & masterclasses Event promotion through our specialist networks

07762 731010 • info@ilams.org.uk • ilams.org.uk