Programme Notes – A Celebration

Having heard many concerts with the Northern Chamber Orchestra I was thrilled to be asked to write a piece for them: this was the first time I’d written a piece for a large ensemble without a conductor, so that posed a new challenge! ‘A Celebration’ is a positive observation of life in general; five short movements over eighteen minutes, embracing humour, poeticism, energy, unpredictability, some introspection and finally joy. The piece is dedicated to the memory of my father who possessed all these characteristics in abundance.