R E C O R D I N G S
roundup REVIEW OF 2014/15
Chair’s Message from Andrew Ward What a year! By any standards, 2014-15 has been a fantastic year for NMC. It was our 25th birthday, which we celebrated in grand style releasing an array of brilliant music during the year: three operas; three Debut Discs; downloads for two exciting projects, featuring 26 new works; two classic re-releases; as well as a new album from one of our most distinctive composers and a wonderful performer-focused recording. In July 2014 we heard we had been re-awarded National Portfolio Organisation status by Arts Council England. This is clearly vital in providing the financial support we need; and it is equally important in sending a clear message that we are a valuable national asset. We have had a bumper crop of prizes and awards this year. Our Britten to America release received a Grammy nomination; four of our recordings were in the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Albums of 2014; we had three Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choices; and Judith Weir’s The Vanishing Bridegroom was both a BBC Music Magazine Critics’ Choice 2014 and a Limelight Magazine Record of the Month 2014. But undoubtedly the icing on the cake was the Leslie Boosey Award for ‘an outstanding contribution to furthering contemporary music in the UK’. We were the first organisation ever to receive this prestigious prize and are thrilled to bits to have been recognized in this way. This has also been a year of exciting new collaborative projects – with Sound and Music, the Wigmore Hall, Aurora Orchestra, and the Science Museum. These have involved new commissions, bringing our music to different audiences. We are grateful to these partners and will continue to seek out other prestigious organisations to join with us to advance our mission. We received continuing core support funding from the Britten Pears Foundation and the Delius Trust, as well as support from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and one anonymous trust to help our organisational development. We are also fortunate to have attracted new individual supporters who have committed significant resources to NMC. We are very grateful to all funders – both organisational and individual – who enable us to do I love the brand – our what we do! We need more funds and I will keep on banging the drum, it edges up my emphasising how important it is for us to obtain additional support.
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appetite for challenging music”
What of 2015/16? With releases of, to name but a few, Steve Martland, Hugh Wood, Harrison Birtwistle, Ryan Wigglesworth, James Wood, and Errollyn Wallen, and the premiere of our six new commissions of Objects at an Exhibition, we are undoubtedly heading for another bumper year!
THANK YOU to those generous individuals, corporate friends, and grant-making trusts and foundations who supported us during 2014/15. If you would also like to help NMC, please contact us on 020 7759 1826 or email gwendolyn@nmcrec.co.uk.
NMC’s Support for Future Generations Debut Discs NMC’s Debut Discs offer emerging British composers an international platform for their work, advancing their profile and listenership. Albums released so far feature Huw Watkins, Dai Fujikura, Sam Hayden, Helen Grime, Joseph Phibbs, Ben Foskett, Richard Causton, Larry Goves and Charlotte Bray. Future releases include Emily Howard, Mark Bowden and Mark Simpson.
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Having my music recorded and released for the first time by NMC has made a fantastic contribution to my career. Being able to refer new connections to a successful commercially available recording is a huge step forward for me. This autumn I will return to the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire for a composer residency; my disc was released since my last stay there and this has no doubt helped to secure a place for me there again. Charlotte Bray
Having an NMC disc devoted to your music is one of the best calling cards a composer can have. I was so lucky to have such an enviable line up of musicians performing on my CD – I really feel that these are the definitive versions of these pieces, which I regularly recommend to others thinking of learning them. The CD itself is so beautifully produced and presented – with it, one is immediately taken more seriously as a composer. Huw Watkins
Next Wave Next Wave is a collection of 12 commissions by student composers. The project ran in partnership with Sound and Music, and included workshops, mentoring sessions, a professional recording of each new piece, and a showcase at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2014.
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I want to thank everyone at NMC for your work on the Sound and Music Next Wave Project and my piece Filling Rubin’s Vase – I was recently awarded my PhD, and the panel spoke very highly of that performance and recording in particular. Ben Gaunt
In 2014/15, NMC worked with:
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Abdul TJ, Adam Cogdon, Adrian Reid, Alan Ewing, Aldeburgh World Orchestra, Alexandra Wood, Alistair Anderson, Allan Og MacDonald, André de Riddler, Andrew Matthews-Owen, Andrew Tortise, Andrew Watts, Angus MacKenzie, Anna Stéphany, Anna-Clare Monk, Anne Howells, Aonghas MacNeacail & Christian MacDonald, Barbara Hannigan, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Benjamin Bevan, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Brodie Jarvie, Andrew McNicol, City of London Sinfonia, Claire Booth, Colin Grant, Crawford Logan, Gemma Payne, Alice Laidler, Andrea Just, David Kane, Derrick Mcintyre …
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Audience Development and Sales Distribution • NMC’s reach extends far beyond our base in London. • Physical and digital distribution bring the music we champion across the globe and a broad retail network reflects a UK-wide audience for our work.
2014/15 Physical Album Sales by Territory 1%
4%
2% 1%
6%
0% 1%
UK, 43% 22%
Sales
• Sales income saw a 32% increase on the previous year’s levels, with digital income increasing by 15%.
20% UK
NMC Direct Sales
USA
Canada
Belgium
Australia
Japan
Germany
France
Other
Income • Our digital:physical ratio remains in line with industry practise (21:79) but we noticed a significant shift away from digital downloads to streaming. • Whilst this brings in a smaller per unit income, making it less favourable across the industry generally, it is a development we embrace, as it enables us significantly to increase our audience reach in order better to fulfil our charitable and cultural purposes.
and with...
2014/15 Top 5 Sellers: comparison of units and income by format 100% 90%
96% 89%
80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20%
8%
10% 1%
3%
4%
0% Streams Units
Streams Income
Downloads - Downloads Units Income
CDs - Units
CDs - Income
Lauren Scott, Kerry Andrew, London Sinfionetta, Geoffrey Paterson, Loré Lixenberg, Lucy Schaufer, Lynsey Marsh, Marie Angel, Mark Padmore, Mark Van de Wiel, Markus Stenz, Martyn Brabbins, Mary Ann Kennedy, Mathew Bourne, Michael Collins, Michael Fowles, Mosi Conde, Mr McFall’s Chamber Strings (Rosenna East, Robert McFall, Brian Schiele, Su-a Lee), Niraj Chag, Oliver Coates, Oliver Knussen, Omar Ebrahim, Onyx Brass, Oren Marshall, Osnat Schmool, Owen Gilhooly, Papa J Mensah, Paul Watkins, Penelope Walmsley-Clark, Peter Tantsits, Jack Worthing, Phyllis Bryn-Julson …
Financials Income
2014/15 Income by Type
• Trusts and Foundations, including our closing annual grant from the Holst Foundation and support from over 15 others, provided the majority of support to NMC.
Donations, 12%
Earned Income, 12% Arts Council England, 9%
• Donations were received from over 70 individuals for our annual appeal, run through the Big Give Christmas Challenge to raise funds for our Objects at an Exhibition collaboration with Science Museum and Aurora Orchestra.
Trusts & Foundations, 67%
• We increased the number of members of the higher-level Producers Circle to 19 during the year. 55% of our Friends come from outside London, reflecting the national base of our work and its audience. % Breakdown of Costs of Making a Disc 5% 8% 5%
Costs
• The cost of recording and producing an album varies enormously depending on the forces involved: from around £8,000 for a solo disc to anything up to £30,000 for a project involving orchestra and soloists.
4%
61%
• Working with Britain’s leading exponents of contemporary music and specialist producers and engineers we continue to strive for excellence in the way we record and present the work of today’s composers. • An average break-down of costs is shown for illustrative purposes.
9% 5%
3%
Artist Fees/Expenses
Instrument Hire
Music Hire
Producer/Engineer
Venue Hire
Editing/Mastering
Design/Images/Texts
Print/Pressing
2014/15 Expenditure by Type
Expenditure • In 2014/15 we increased the investment in our artistic programme to 72%. • Adopting new approaches to marketing and fundraising resulted in an increase of audience members and supporters whilst reducing the amount spent on these areas.
Governance costs , 5%
Overheads , 5%
Cost of generating funds , 12%
Marketing , 6%
Artistic programme, 72%
Priti Menon, Denyse Anyogu, Nicholas Kok, Raphaele Kennedy, Ray Carless, Richard Benjafield, Richard Greager, Richard Uttley, Richard Watkins, Robert Campion, Robert Irvine, Rolf Hind, Ruth Morley, Ruth Wall, Sam Beste, Sarah Nicolls, Scott MacMillan, Scottish Festival Strings, Sir Mark Elder, Sophia Jaffé, Sound Festival Comunity Choir, Sound Intermedia, Steel Quake, Stephane Rancourt, Stephen Davis, Susan Hamilton, Tangent Ensemble, Zinnie Harris, The Nash Ensemble, Thomas Adès, Tom Hunter, Transition Extreme Skaters, Vikaash Sankadecha, Wendy Doyle, Bill Bankes-Jones, Xenia Pestova, Yann Seznec
Celebrating NMC ...
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NMC is a true champion of British Contemporary Music, and over a quarter of a century has built an extraordinary recording catalogue embracing composers at all stages of their careers, often working with them well before any commercial company might consider them a proposition. As NMC has opened our ears and changed how and what we listen to. NMC we salute you. Here’s to the next 25 years. Royal Philharmonic Society, Leslie Boosey Award
Left to Right - The NMC Team: Gwendolyn Tietze Head of Development, Anne Rushton Executive Director, Eleanor Wilson General Manager, Lucile Gasser Label Assistant
“... your catalogue is a truly remarkable resource and voyage of discovery” NMC Customer
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“Quite simply, by making so much music available to buy you enrich my life enormously. A very great thank you to NMC” NMC Customer
The majority of people will hear music first on a recording, hear it most on a recording, and hear it again on a recording. So projects like this, which put the recording at the centre, are really interesting, because you know that you have this ‘tool’ that you can use to reach a wider audience, and to get people interested in your work. Christopher Mayo, Composer, about Objects at an Exhibition
and also ...
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Elise Ross, Elysian String Quartet, Eric Lamb, Fiona Winning, Foden’s Band, Foden’s Youth Band, Francois Le Roux, Garry Walker, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, George Barton, Gwilym Simcock, The Hallé, Nicholas Collon, Hallé Soloists, Harvin Singh, Hilary Summers, Hugh Jones, Huw Watkins, Inverness Gaelic Choir, Isabelle Carré, Jacquieline Shave, Jamie Phillips, Jean-Francois Becquaert, John Marsden, John Sessions, John Shirley-Quirk, John Tomlinson, Jonathan Lemalu, Jose Miguel Fernandez, Joshua Bloom, Joshua Hart, Juice Voice Ensemble, Katalin Károlyi, Kathleen Supové, Kevin Davy, Kevin Smith, Laura Connolly
Press Recognition D189 John Casken: Orion over Fame
D200 Harrison Birtwistle: Gawain
‘A disc of vitality and contrast, expertly played by the Hallé.’ The Guardian
‘The orchestral playing catches both the dark fatalistic quality of the score and its moments of beauty.’ BBC Music Magazine
‘These splendid performances come in Casken’s 65th birthday year and afford a powerful distillation of his musical thought.’ The Sunday Times
‘High expressionist, high modernist and quite compelling. Certainly it is one of Birtwistle’s major offerings. The Royal Opera performance is exceptional.’ Classical-Modern Music
D198 Larry Goves: Just stuff people do
D195 Ben Foskett: Dinosaur
‘A kaleidoscopic use of instrumental colour is the foundation of Larry Goves’ surprising and beautifully written music … Snake-hipped, microtonal melodies writhe, sigh and occasionally pump away rhythmically, much as one might expect from a piece with an opening movement entitled Threesome.’ Sinfini Music
‘The early Five Night Pieces, for piano, played by Richard Uttley, have a lucid modernist assurance, but Foskett’s 2009 Prom commission, the orchestral From Trumpet, is something else again: big, monolithic, broodingly textured, with a rich internal drama.’ The Sunday Times
D196 Judith Weir: The Vanishing Bridgeroom
D199 Helen Grime: Night Songs
‘On CD it emerges with real vitality and it is hard to imagine this performance being bettered. Not a bad way of introducing yourself to the new Master of the Queen’s Music.’ BBC Radio 3
‘[…] glittery, incisive, full of leaping lines and incandescent climaxes.’ The Sunday Times
‘Magical […] an important omission in Weir’s recorded catalogue very decently filled.’ Gramophone
‘The writing is finely textured, dense but airy, ornamental but never decorative.’ The Guardian
D208 John Tavener: Akhmatova Requiem
D202 Charlotte Bray: At the Speed of Stillness
‘… it’s a stunning one which should be snapped up by Tavener enthusiasts or indeed by anyone wanting to explore original relationships between Modernist text and popular, conventional twentieth century music.’ Classical Net
‘Charlotte Bray is now at the forefront of younger British composers … her future development can only be followed with the greatest interest.’ Gramophone
D197 Gerald Barry: The Importance of Being Ernest
DL209 Next Wave
Gramophone Editor’s Choice BBC Music Magazine (Opera Choice of the Month) ‘The eccentricity is so carefully controlled by both composer and conductor – I started off completely perplexed but soon found myself laughing out loud.’ Martin Cullingford – Gramophone Editor
‘The highlight of Next Wave for me was Paul McGuire’s Panels ... these ideas were invariably quiet and deliberate, but in their own minute way rather marvellous, two or three sounds focussing to form a fragile timbre, like small sonic swatches, a composer to keep an eye on for the future.’ 5:4
New Music Biennial
D203 Richard Watkins and friends: Sea Eagle
‘Arlene Sierra’s hypnotic Urban, Samuel Bordoli’s all-action film Grind, and the eclectic Gospel-infused Are You Worried About The Rising Cost Of Funerals, epitomised the endless variety of approaches that made this enterprising event such an exploratory and explosive cocktail of free-thinking and originality.’ * * * * The Scotsman
‘NMC’s enterprising and thoroughly absorbing sequence shows him to be an imperious exponent of his craft and a wonderfully instinctive musician to boot … this is a most valuable collection in every respect.’ Gramophone
‘An impressive sound ... it really pinned my ears back.’ Ivan Hewitt, BBC Radio 3 CD Review
NMC Patrons Alfred Brendel Hon KBE Vladimir Jurowski Lady Panufnik Sir Simon Rattle OM CBE Lord Dennis Stevenson of Coddenham Dame Mitsuko Uchida
During 2014/15, NMC received core funding from
NMC Recordings Ltd Somerset House Third Floor South Wing Strand, London, WC2R 1LA Tel: 020 7759 1827/8 www.nmcrec.co.uk nmc@nmcrec.co.uk @nmcrecordings /nmcrecordings
THE DELIUS TRUST
NMC Recordings is a registered charity no: 328052