BMS AGM

BMS AGM

AGM 2021  All BMS members are welcome to join us online for our 2021 AGM which will be held via Zoom on 4 October at 10am, UK time. Please confirm your attendance in advance by emailing the secretary, Dirick von Behr at secretarybms@outlook.com    How to attend...
BMS stock take sale

BMS stock take sale

From 1 February to 31 March 2021 the following CDs can be bought online at special prices for BMS members and subscribers to the monthly BMS e-newsletter. All the CDs below have been reduced in price to £5; double and triple CDs are available for £10. These prices...
English Music Festival moves to Dartington Hall

English Music Festival moves to Dartington Hall

After 19 years The English Music Festival is embarking on a new chapter as it prepares to welcome audiences to the spectacular setting of Dartington Hall in Devon. Over four days, from 22nd to 25th May, world-class musicians will present masterpieces of English music...
Music news in brief

Music news in brief

* Award to be made to first woman to conduct a complete BBC Proms concert The first woman to conduct a complete concert at the BBC Proms — a landmark moment in British musical history – will be honored with the 2026 Tulane University International Alumni Award...
Trust launches national choral music campaign

Trust launches national choral music campaign

The Cathedral Music Trust has launched a national campaign, representing a collective voice of organisations from across the choral and cathedral music sector, to secure UNESCO Living Heritage recognition for English sacred choral music. A centuries-old tradition...
ELGAR: Light out of Darkness

ELGAR: Light out of Darkness

Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea William Vann director                       Callum Knox organ                           ...
New album features Welsh composer Robin Stephens

New album features Welsh composer Robin Stephens

An album of orchestral music by the Welsh-born and Manchester-based composer Robin Stephens is being released by Toccata on 6 March. The compositional career of Robin Stevens, who was born in 1958, is divided into two periods, separated by a period of illness. The...
HUW WATKINS: Symphony No. 2 | Fanfare for the Hallé

HUW WATKINS: Symphony No. 2 | Fanfare for the Hallé

Hallé OrchestraMark Elder conductor Hallé CDHLL7569 The Symphony begins with rippling, airy, woodwind and harp, before earthier movements stir deep down in the strings…we seem not a million miles from Mathias, or Tippett’s Ritual Dances. Tempi increase and brass...
OVERTURES FROM THE BRITISH ISLES, VOLUME 3

OVERTURES FROM THE BRITISH ISLES, VOLUME 3

BBC Philharmonic OrchestraRumon Gamba conductor CHANDOS CHAN 20351 With such a smorgasbord of preludes, this disc is best sampled sparingly, but everything here is finely played and cleanly recorded. Many of these scores are little-known, making Lewis Foreman’s...
Prayer for Peace

Prayer for Peace

Manchester-based Prima Facie Records has launched an interesting album Prayer for Peace featuring of music for strings, recorder, voice and piano featuring British composers including Thomas Pitfield, Rhona Clarke and Sasha Johnson Manning. The idea of putting...
Herschel music rediscovered to mark January anniversary

Herschel music rediscovered to mark January anniversary

On January 11th 1787, astronomer Sir William Herschel discovered the first two moons of Uranus, Titania and Oberon. But alongside William Herschel’s incredible work as an internationally celebrated astronomer, he was also a composer.  Herschel lived, died and is...
New Year’s Honours list recognises British musicians

New Year’s Honours list recognises British musicians

Soprano Janet Fischer, mezzo-soprano Alice Mary Coote and composer Max Richter were among British musicians recognised in the King’s New Year’s Honours list this month. Composer and pianist Max Richter was appointed a CBE for services to the arts alongside...