A new work by Luke Bedford

Will (Development Director) went to see a performance of Luke Bedford’s new opera, Seven Angels, at the Linbury Theatre recently.

“The opera shows glimpses of Luke Bedford’s stunning grasp of musical texture and colour. There are wonderful passages, with some fantastic singing too from the seven-strong cast (Rhona McKail, Emma Selway, Louise Mott, Christopher Lemmings, Joseph Shovelton, Owen Gilhooly and Keel Watson). I think we’re going to be in for a real treat when we give the world premiere of Luke’s work for our ‘At Lunch’ series as part of our 2011-12 season. His ability to control and nurture shades of light and dark will really work well in the hands of our players, and I’m particularly looking forward to hearing how it sounds when set against the Franck Piano Quintet, with all its passion and emotion – it’s a work I’ve never heard live before.

More generally, I’m looking forward to hearing all of our new commissions across 2011-12, from the likes of Elspeth Brooke, Charlie Piper, Piers Tattersall, and Jonathan Dove. Nurturing the future of music is vital so that we keep our repertoire fresh, relevant and alive. It’s no overstatement to say that hundreds of donors are helping us make our ambitious commissioning programme a reality, and helping Britten Sinfonia lead the way. It’s going to be quite a season!”

You can hear Luke Bedford’s new work for Britten Sinfonia in Brighton, Norwich, Cambridge, and London from 03 March 2012. The concert will also be recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

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Tenner for a Tenor Campaign

On Tuesday we launched our exciting new crowd-funding campaign Tenner for a Tenor. The aim of the campaign is to fund a new commission by Jonathan Dove for tenor Mark Padmore and Britten Sinfonia. We hope this model of funding new commissions will inspire people who have never thought of donating to contribute as we are only asking for donations of £10!

Working with Carly Murphy-Merrydew (design concept) and the guys from Wash Media (film) the promotion of the campaign compares items which cost £10 (which doesn’t get you much these days) and includes sausages, train tickets, wine and flowers! Take a look at the short film which captures the fun and quirky nature we’ve taken with promoting Tenner for a Tenor.

Launch events took place at our At Lunch concerts in Cambridge on Tuesday and London on Wednesday and tomorrow (Friday) we’ll be launching the scheme in Norwich. We’ve also created a giant postbox where people can post their donations at concerts but you can also donate online and via SMS text message.

So far we have had over 50 donations and the scheme is generating press and viral interest for its innovative way of encouraging philanthropy in the arts. Donors will have their name acknowledged in the score of the new work and will also get behind-the-scenes access with special email and video updates as the new work is written.

You can keep up to date with the campaign by following #10fortenor on Twitter or the Tenner for a Tenor page on Facebook. What are you waiting for? To donate text BRITTEN to 70700, or visit http://www.tennerforatenor.com/. 4lb of sauasages or a piece of music that will last a lifetime – which will you choose?