BASCA nominations

The British Composer Awards 2016 are delighted to announce this year’s shortlist which showcases the diversity and vibrancy of contemporary composition in the UK. Shortlisted works take inspiration from science, technology, other art forms and beyond, and with more women nominated than ever before and a fifth of nominees born overseas.

Shortlisted composers within the Wind Band or Brass Band category are:

A Richer Dust by Nigel Clarke, Au79 by Fumiko Miyachi and Just a Vibration by Shri Sriram. Lucy Pankhurst’s Brass Roots Musical Wings is also shortlisted in the Community or Educational Project category.

Lucy Pankhurst - Brass Roots Musical Wings

Brass Roots; Musical Wings was commissioned by the MYBB to celebrate their 10th anniversary (2005-2015). The piece was composed with the assistance of the members of MYBB during 2015; the players created rhythms and melodies and suggested musical styles and structure for the work during a series of workshops – all of which I included in the final piece. With it being such a special and personal celebratory piece, involving the young musicians in the process was the perfect way to start everything off. It ensured that the music was inherently theirs through and through…and was also very enjoyable for me to see how creative they all were.

Each ensemble within MYBB has its own solo feature, before combining with full forces for the grand finale. The subtitles reflect the journey of MYBB over their first ten years:

Training Band - ONWARDS AND UPWARDS
Junior Band - PRIDE AND JOY (March)
Drum Corps - BRIDGE BEATS
Youth Band - ALL IN GOOD TIME
MASSED BANDS - IN IT TOGETHER

The overall title - Brass Roots; Musical Wings - illustrates the mission of MYBB – giving their players firm roots within the brass band tradition, allowing them a whole host of musical opportunities, before taking flight to the next stage of their lives at university, or beyond. Being part of such a wonderful organisation teaches many skills – not just musical ones! In addition to being enjoyable, learning to be a musician requires dedication, discipline, develops social and listening skills and also shows that you can work well as an important part of a team. This piece is a tribute to the hard work of everyone involved with MYBB that make it what it is; a positive, well-(valve) oiled brass and drum machine!


Nigel Clarke – A Richer Dust

Commissioned by Middle Tennessee State University A Richer Dust received its UK permiere on 6 November 2015 at The Guards Chapel, Birdcage Walk, London SW1E 6HQ. Using music and words, A Richer Dust explores what it means to live with violence and extremism, the constant companions of human history. The intertwined text and music, ideas and images, weave together voices ranging from those of historically significant figures through to the voiceless, ordinary people living in extraordinary times.


Au79 – Fumiko Miyachi

Au79 was premiered on 4 March 2016. Performed by Birmingham Conservatoire Brass Band conducted by Ian Porthouse at Birmingham Conservatoire.

Since 2010, I have been working on a series of pieces called The Transitional Metal Series and Au79 (Gold) for brass band is the second piece in the series. I have always been strangely drawn to the neatness of the periodic table and the rhythmic drive and clarity of texture inherent my music somehow brought to mind the “metal” connection. There are two other pieces in the series Cr24 (Chromium) for large ensemble and Co27 (Cobalt) for piano duet; I am currently working on Hg80 (Mercury) which is a large scale work for two pianos. – Fumiko Miyachi


Just a Vibration – Shri Sriram

This is a project that was about bringing Indian melodies and classical concepts to Brass band. The line-up features brass band, sitar, bass, drums, Indian flute and Indian tabla vocalisation.

This was Sriram’s first time at composing for brass band and they have been lauded for bringing in a very fresh perspective to the UK brass scene, drawing from Indian classical tabla, sitar and drone instruments, jazz, dub-step, club music, ambient and drum’n’bass.

Commissioned by Drum The Bass it received its UK premiere on 5 September 2015. Performed by Shri and Skelmanthorpe Brass Band at Freedom Festival in Hull 2015.

Photo: Nigel Clarke

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