Howard Piece Performed at Contemporary Music Festival

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Robert’s 2000 composition Promenade IV  was performed on Saturday 5 March at King’s Place, London, as part of the two-day Festival of Contemporary Music for All (CoMA).

The performance took place in the second-level atrium, which was ideally positioned outside several of the rooms being used for workshops, as well as being directly visible from the venue’s main coffee shop and meeting space.

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The 10-piece KNM Campus Ensemble from Berlin performed Robert’s flexibly scored piece on three violins, four flutes, bass flute, bass clarinet and keyboard. During the performance, an image of Anthony Caro’s Promenade sculptures which inspired this (nd several other pieces was projected onto the wall above the artists.

The short concert featured two other works, one of which was composed by the ensemble themselves. The 75-strong audience clearly enjoyed all three performances, and afterwards the conductor of the group intimated that Promenade IV was the group’s favourite piece to perform!

New Choral Work: Ave verum corpus

[Update: The recording of the premiere is now available to listen to online.]

Robert Howard has composed a new setting of Ave verum corpus, to be sung by Prescot Parish Church Choir, with Tim Hall accompanying on the organ, on Good Friday 2016.

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The composer wrote the music to the traditional Latin text with simplicity and singability in mind, especially for the younger members of the choir, which has recently had an intake of six eight- and nine-year-olds.

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It is structured in two parts, the second of which repeats the first (musically) with some variations. The singing fades as the opening lines – translating as ‘Hail the true body’ – return, mirroring the dying of Christ on the cross.

All are welcome to hear the first performance at the Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin, Prescot, L34 1LA, at 2pm on Friday 25 March 2016.

Click the thumbnail to view page 1 of the choral score.

London Performance of Howard’s Promenade IV

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The KNM Campus Ensemble are performing Robert Howard’s 2000 flexibly scored piece Promenade IV on Saturday 5 March at King’s Palace Concert Venue in King’s Cross, London.

The ensemble hail from Berlin, Germany, and are taking part in the concert as part of the Festival of Contemporary Music for All. The programme features several works inspired by images, to be performed alongside a projected display.

Robert gained inspiration from the Promenade sculptures of Anthony Caro (1996), currently on display at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The artwork inspired several companion pieces, forming part of his PhD thesis (2003).

A recording of the performance will be among the first to be uploaded to a newly relaunched CoMA website. The score was originally published in Forum London Composer’s Millennium Pack 2000, and will be republished in a future volume of CoMA’s Open Score.

Click here to view or download the flyer (PDF) for the event, and click here for an earlier recording and sample page from the newly typeset copy of the Promenade IV score. More information about the concert on 5 March is online at kingsplace.co.uk.

A Babe Is Born: New Arrangement Receives Premiere

Thursday 10 December saw the premiere of Robert Howard’s new arrangement of his 2002 Christmas carol ‘A Babe Is Born.’

The performance, by tenor David Kernick (pictured), with the composer at the piano, took place at St Mary’s Church, Prescot, as part of the Mayor of Prescot’s Charity Christmas Concert.

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More than 350 people attended the concert, which raised an impressive £1,053.05 for local charitable causes Willowbrook Hospice and Prescot Army Cadets. A programme of carols and popular festive tunes featured Liverpool Brass Ensemble and several local school, church and community choirs.

The annual event is organised by the Prescot Festival, of which Dr Howard is Founder and Artistic Director.

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Photos: Christopher Lyon Photography

Cortege Receives Premiere, Second Performance 28 June

Dr Robert Howard’s latest composition, Cortege, received its first performance on 19 May 2015 at Liverpool Hope University Chapel.

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A stirring piece for full orchestra, it has a march-like quality, beginning subtly and growing in intensity towards its climax, exhibiting a rousing, rhythmic style that is all the composer’s own.

The South Liverpool Orchestra will play the piece again at the finale of the 11th Annual Prescot Festival of Music & the Arts on 28 June, in St Mary’s Church Prescot. The programme also includes music by Sibelius, Rossini, Bizet and Elgar, as well as a performance of Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, with soloist Hannah Mackenzie.

Pictured: Robert conducts the premiere of Cortege (photo by Alan Humphreys)

Robert Howard Completes Latest Composition

Dr Robert Howard has recently completed his latest composition, Cortege (2015), for orchestra.

He has composed it for South Liverpool Orchestra, David Kernick (co-founder and webmaster of the Prescot Festival), and the 11th Annual Prescot Festival of Music and the Arts.

The piece will initially be performed by South Liverpool Orchestra (Liverpool Hope University) and conducted by the composer. The piece lasts approximately six minutes.

The first performance will be on Tuesday 19 May, 8pm at Liverpool Hope University Chapel, Taggart Avenue, Childwall, Liverpool, L16 9JD. Tickets are only £3.50 on the door, and the concert also includes works by Rossini, Purcell/Britten, Fucik and Elgar, as well as Sibelius’s Finlandia. The event will be followed by a buffet.

The second performance, and first festival performance, is on Sunday 28 June, 7.30pm, at Prescot Parish Church, Church Street, Prescot, Merseyside, L34 1LA. This is as part of the finale of the 11th Prescot Festival of Music & the Arts (www.prescotfestival.co.uk). Tickets are £5, and the concert also includes Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto (soloist – Hannah MacKenzie (RNCM)) and works by Rossini, Purcell/Britten, Fucik, Elgar, Sibelius, Arne and Parry.

Once again, the orchestra will be conducted by the composer, Dr Robert Howard.

Robert Howard Performances, Friday 26 September

Press Release:

“Composer Dr Robert Howard is pleased to announce the second performance of his solo organ work ‘Meditation.’  Robert is Founder and Artistic Director of the Prescot Festival, and composed this work for Prescot Parish Organist Tim Hall, for the 10th Annual Prescot Festival (June 2014).

“The inspiration for the work was a recent visit with his students from St Edward’s College, Liverpool (Choir School to Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral) to La Trinité Church in Paris, where Messiaen was organist.

“‘Meditation’ will be performed as part of an evening of music and poetry commemorating the WWI centenary at Prescot Parish Church, Church Street, Prescot, Merseyside, L34 1LA, on Friday 26th September 2014, beginning at 7pm.

“The composer will also perform, for the first time, a revised version of his own solo piano work, entitled ‘Chagall Reflection.”

‘Meditation’ Premiere a Success

Robert is delighted to report that the first performance of Meditation, his work for solo organ, was very well received at the Prescot Festival late last month.

Parish Organist Tim Hall gave the premiere on the organ of St Mary’s Church, Prescot, prior to a well-attended Evensong on Sunday 29 July. It was widely reported both locally and in new music circles, online and offline. Other organists in the area have already taken up the piece, and Tim will be repeating the performance on Friday 26 September at 7pm as part of his annual recital at St Mary’s.

Copies of the full manuscript are available on request.

The composition was written specifically for the occasion of the 10th Annual Prescot Festival of Music & the Arts, which Robert founded in 2005. This year’s 10-day programme was an unprecedented success, attracting record audiences of 1,400 to a concert series that included organist Ian Tracey, Foden’s Band, and Dr Jazz & the Cheshire Cats.

New Piece to Premiere at Prescot Festival

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Composer Dr Robert Howard is pleased to announce the first performance of his new solo organ work for the 10th Annual Prescot Festival of Music & the Arts on Merseyside.

Robert is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Festival and has composed this work for Prescot Parish Organist Tim Hall. The inspiration for the work was a recent visit with his students from St Edward’s College, Liverpool (Choir School to Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral) to La Trinite Church in Paris, where Messiaen was organist.

Meditation will be performed at Festival Choral Evensong at Prescot Parish Church, Church Street, Prescot, Merseyside, L34 1LA, on Sunday 29 June 2014 prior to the 6pm service (approximately 5.50pm).

Click the thumbnail to view the score excerpt at full size.