New London Chamber Ensemble (NLCE)

Projects & Concerts

Theatre

The nlce is committed to explore the theatrical and staging possibilities of performance, which has led to exciting collaborative work with choreographer Danny Scheinmann, inspiring several staged/semi-staged works in its repertoire, including Berio’s Opus Number Zoo.

Similarly, the group is committed to commissioning new works and encourage composers to defy conventional styles of presentation and include theatrical elements.

Commissions

In writing new works for the nlce, composers have been invited to defy conventional styles of presentation and include theatrical elements. One of the first new commissions is scored for quintet and metronome; written by Edward Longstaff, entitled Public/Private - premièred in June 2003 at the Corsham Festival. A second commission, also by Edward Longstaff, entitled Doublings and Couplings (based on the Beckett play Come and Go), was premièred to great acclaim at the International Double Reed Society Conference in Banff, August 2002. The nlce also commissioned a new work the 3rd book of studies from John Woolrich in celebration of his fiftiethth birthday year.

Education

Since 2001, the nlce has been ‘Quintet in Residence’ to the National Youth Chamber Orchestra of Great Britain; a youth chamber orchestra for highly talented young musicians which performs without a conductor. The Ensemble’s work involves coaching orchestral and chamber music repertoire in preparation for bi-annual concerts.

In 2003 the Ensemble also worked with Nuphonics Young Composers in an education project allied to the East Sussex Wind Orchestra. The nlce is committed to taking music into schools and other institutions, particularly those that may lack exposure to the arts, increasing accessibility through its work with actors and choreographers.

Performance highlights

Tour to Sweden

Leeds International Concert Season

October 2005

  • Instrument Zoo - part of the acclaimed season in Leeds

    • Deal Festival

    July 2005

    Sounds New Festival, Canterbury

    March 2005

    University of East Anglia, Norwich

    Residency at Sweden’s Nyland Festival

    Summer 2004

    Residency with East Sussex Wind Orchestra

    July 2003

    Borenstein Festival, St James’s, Piccadilly

    July 2003

    Corsham Festival

    June 2003

    Residency at the Swaledale Festival

    May/June 2003

    Residency with the National Youth Chamber Orchestra

    April 2003

    Residency at the Swaledale Festival

    Summer 2003 and 2004

    Canadian Tour

    August 2002

    Canadian High Commission, Canada House, London

    February 2002

    Showcase concert

    The Two Moors Festival

    October 2001 (inaugural public concert)

    The nlce combined with percussionist Adrian Spillet and narrators Prunella Scales & Timothy West to give the first performance of a new arrangement of William Walton’s Façade, commissioned for them by the festival and written by Edward Watson of the RSC

    Recent Performances

    21 September 2007 – Merlin Music Society, Monmouth
    Blake Theatre, Monmouth

    6 October 2007 - Basingstoke Concert Club
    Trinity Methodist Church, Sarum Hill, Basingstoke

    12 October 2007 – Truro Three Arts
    Mylor Theatre, Truro College

    27 October 2007 – HHH Concerts, Haslemere
    St Christopher’s Church Weyhill, Haslemere

    17 February 2008 - Leeds International Concert Season - Musical Carousel
    Leeds College of Music

    2 March 2008 - creative:space - interactive music events for disabled children and their families
    Reading Concert Hall

    14 March 2008 – Country Concerts, Stamford

    15 March 2008 – Welwyn Garden Concert Club
    Campus West Theatre, Welwyn Garden City

    27-30 March 2008 - National Youth Chamber Orchestra Residency

    14 April 2008 – Huddersfield Music Society
    St Paul’s Hall, Queensgate, Huddersfield

    Future Work

    Thanks to funding from the PRS Foundation, the nlce has recently undertaken a ‘call for works’ to attract new commissions from British composers to be performed in the 2006-7 season. As a result of the project, composer Martyn Harry has been commissioned to write a work for the ensemble, Lot’s Wife, with a further ‘Call Waiting’ from runner-up composer Alison Beckett Queue having been premièred in February 2007.

    Future Performances 2007-08 season

    18 May 2008 - Newbury Spring Festival
    St Martin’s Church, East Woodhay, Berkshire, 19:30
    Tickets: £16.50 (licensed cash bar at interval)
    Newbury Spring Festival

    8 June 2008 - creative:space - interactive music events for disabled children and their families
    Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL, 11:15 and 14:00
    Tickets: £6 (adults), £4 (children). Contact Chloe Cooper at Create (Arts) Ltd, tel 020 7374 8485, e-mail chloe@createarts.org.uk or for downloadable booking form click here

    17 June 2008 – Midsummer Concerts
    with Angela Hewitt (piano)
    The Barn, Little Moorden, Leigh, near Tonbridge, Kent, 20:15 (supper 19:00)
    Tickets: £35.00 (concert, supper and wine), £15.00 (concert only). Profits to The Hospice in the Weald
    Please call 01273 301285 for ticket application information

    22 June 2008 - creative:space - interactive music events for disabled children and their families
    The Bradbourne School, Sevenoaks, TN13 3LE, 11:15 and 14:00
    Tickets: £6 (adults), £4 (children). Contact Chloe Cooper at Create (Arts) Ltd, tel 020 7374 8485, e-mail chloe@createarts.org.uk or for downloadable booking form click here
    Sevenoaks Festival

    3 July 2008 - Trasimeno Music Festival, Italy
    with Angela Hewitt (piano)
    Castle of the Knights of Malta, Magione, 21:15
    Trasimeno Music Festival

    30 July 2008 - Cambridge Summer Music Festival, 15:00
    Sawston Youth and Community Centre, New Road, Sawston Village, CB22 3BP
    Cambridge Summer Music Festival