On 1st December, Emma will join the Leiden Toonkunstorkest and conductor Jeppe Moulijn to perform Willam Walton’s settings of Edith Sitwell’s poems, ‘Façade.’ The poems, which are spoken, not sung, have catchy rhythms and word play around assonance and dissonance.

The work was conceived as a tongue-in-cheek answer to Schönberg’s ‘Pierrot Lunaire.’ The poems have been compared to Edward Lear’s ‘Nonsense Verses.’ Walton’s music, composed when he was living with Sitwell, sets down the rhythm for the spoken text and provides musical accompaniment to them. Sometimes there are well-known melodies quoted alongside the text, such as ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.’ At other moments, the music has a dance form, such as tango, waltz, or tarantella. There are also references to hornpipe music and Alpine music.

Practicing the poems at home has been tremendous fun, since our toddler seems to enjoy trying to dance to the rhythms of the texts, even without the orchestral accompaniment. If you are able to attend the performance, I hope it brings you the same feeling of joy!

For tickets, please use this link.

Every year on 3^rd October, the city of Leiden, the Netherlands, celebrates her liberation from hostile forces in 1574. The traditions include community singing at dawn, shared food, a parade of local orchestras, a remembrance ceremony, and a fun fair.

This year marked 450 years of liberation, and to mark this the 3 October Vereeniging commissioned new community songs. I was delighted to be asked to composed a song about Magdalena Moens. Moens was the lover of the captain of the opposing army, and she managed to negotiate with him that his troops would not attack Leiden, and even to bring food to the starving citizens of Leiden. She is Leiden’s heroine, and sadly until recently she has not had the attention she deserved.

My song was published together with two other new songs in a new song book, and I presented the song to the public during their community rehearsal.

I was delighted to lead the finale of the international tattoo in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands, which formed the closing event of the MHM youth music festival. After an intense day of competitions, the young marching bands were treated to a show by adult professional and semi-professional orchestras.

On 8th June I will give a concert in the beautiful Church of Our Lady in Grangues, France, together with oboist Franck le Bail. Our programme includes folksongs from the British Isles, Hildegard of Bingen, Gregorian Chant, and of course songs connected to remembrance and peace.

Saturday 8th June, L’Eglise de Notre Dame, Grangues, France
For tickets, please visit this link.