James MacMillan

James MacMillan is the pre-eminent Scottish composer of his generation * Attracted attention with acclaimed BBC Proms premiere of The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (1990) * Music combines rhythmic excitement, raw emotional power and spiritual meditation * Percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel (1992) has received close to 500 performances * Programmed worldwide by orchestras including London Symphony Orchestra, New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics and Cleveland Orchestra * Featured composer at Edinburgh Festival (1993), Southbank Centre in London (1997), BBC Barbican Composer Weekend (2005), Grafenegg Festival (2012) * Interpreters include soloists Evelyn Glennie, Colin Currie, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Vadim Repin, conductors Leonard Slatkin, Sir Andrew Davis, Marin Alsop and Donald Runnicles and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon * Recordings on BMG/RCA Red Seal, BIS, Chandos, Naxos, Hyperion, Coro, Linn and Challenge Classics * Awarded a Knighthood in the 2015 Queen's Birthday honours

Works by James MacMillan include:
Veni, Veni, Emmanuel (1992) for percussion and orchestra
Seven Last Words from the Cross (1993) Cantata for choir and strings
Quickening (1998) for soloists (ATTB), children's choir, mixed choir and orchestra

View our web guide to MacMillan's choral music (PDF).

Looking Ahead: UK premiere of Christmas Oratorio with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir conducted by Mark Elder (4 Dec); new work Fiat Lux for soprano, baritone, mixed chorus, organ and orchestra, commissioned by Pacific Symphony in California (17 Feb 2022); future record releases include choral music by Cappella Nova on Linn

"...a composer so confident of his own musical language that he makes it instantly communicative to his listeners." — The Guardian