Spring Season Highlights from Boosey & Hawkes London

(November 2023)

Here are our 2024 New Year and spring highlights taking place in Europe, Asia and beyond. For events in North, South and Latin America, including music by recent signings Gabriela Ortiz and Courtney Bryan, click here.

19 January, Luxembourg
Detlev Glanert  Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (world premiere)
Johannes Moser is soloist in Detlev Glanert’s new cello concerto, premiered by the Luxembourg Philharmonic under Gustavo Gimeno. The work travels for its German premiere to the Cologne Philharmonie with the same artists (21 Jan), and its North American premiere is with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä (27 Mar). 2024 also brings the world premiere of a new percussion concerto for Christian Sietzen, presented by the Arctic Philharmonic in Bodø (24 May).
> Concert info

19 January, Lucerne
Brett Dean  Faustian Pact (Hommage à Liszt) (world premiere)
Dean has recently completed his series of piano etudes with Faustian Pact, a ‘Hommage à Liszt’, which will be unveiled by Benjamin Grosvenor in Lucerne’s Lukaskirche (19 Jan), followed by its US premiere in Chicago (10 Mar). The pianist has plans to present the complete collection of hommages in concert, and they will be published together by Boosey & Hawkes in mid-2024. London concerts in Dean’s Wigmore Hall residency include Imaginary Ballet for piano and string trio (11 Jan) and Madame ma bonne soeur for voice and string quartet (22 Jan).
> Concert info

26 January, Leipzig
James MacMillan  Ordo Virtutum (world premiere)
The MDR Radio Choir celebrates its 75th anniversary with a major new choral score by James MacMillan, premiered at the Peterskirche in Leipzig under Philipp Ahmann. The hour-long work sets the celebrated Latin text by Hildegard of Bingen for soprano Yeree Suh, double choir and percussionist Michael Weilacher. The Spring season also brings a new Robert Burns choral setting, Composed in August, commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for premiere in Edinburgh (21 Mar) and by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (13 Apr).
> Concert info

6 February, Paris
Steve Reich  Jacob’s Ladder (European premiere)
A large-scale Steve Reich retrospective at Radio France’s Présences festival in Paris (5-11 Feb) includes the first European performance of Jacob’s Ladder following its premiere in New York in October. The 15-minute score, performed by the Ensemble Intercontemporain and Synergy Vocals, sets Biblical texts describing Jacob’s vision of a ladder between Heaven and Earth, with angels ascending and descending. Présences also includes French premieres of Reich/Richter (6 Feb) and Music for Ensemble and Orchestra (10 Feb). The same month sees a major Reich event in Manchester, a collaboration between the Hallé and the RNCM led by Colin Currie (2-3 Feb).
> Festival info

10 February, Dresden
Detlev Glanert  The Jewish woman of Toledo (world premiere)
The Dresden Staatsoper unveils the latest Glanert opera, The Jewish woman of Toledo, based on the classic play by Franz Grillparzer, in a production by Robert Carsen. Set in late 12th century Spain, and exploring the conflict between love and political power, the work has many resonances in contemporary times. Lead roles of King Alfonso VIII and his Jewish lover Rahel are sung by Christoph Pohl and Heidi Stober, with the Dresden Staatskapelle conducted by Jonathan Darlington.
> Opera info

28 February, Helsinki
Magnus Lindberg  Viola Concerto (world premiere)
Following his pairs of concertos for violin and cello, Magnus Lindberg completes the string set with his first Viola Concerto, composed for Lawrence Power. The world premiere by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Helsinki Music Centre is conducted by Nicholas Collon, with future performances planned in Germany, the UK and USA. Pekka Kuusisto tours Violin Concerto No.1 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under Maxim Emelyanychev (21-23 Feb).
> Concert info

29 February, Swansea
Karl Jenkins  Stravaganza (UK premiere)
Jess Gillam is saxophone soloist in the first UK performance of Jenkins’s new concerto in Swansea with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Nil Venditti. Stravaganza, premiered by Gillam in June at the Berlin Philharmonie, explores themes of carnival and extravagant fantasy. The composer’s 80th birthday year in 2024 includes major celebrations at Carnegie Hall in New York presented by DCINY (15 Jan) and at the Royal Albert Hall in London as part of a UK tour featuring music from his new score One World (10 Mar - 14 Apr). 2024 sees The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace reaching its 3000th performance since its premiere in 2000.
> Concert info
> UK tour info

3 March, London
John Adams  Frenzy (world premiere)
Simon Rattle conducts first performances of John Adams’s new orchestral score, Frenzy, with the London Symphony Orchestra. Following its premiere at the Barbican, orchestra and conductor tour the 20-minute work to the Bristol Beacon (4 Mar), Dortmund Konzerthaus (6 Mar), Philharmonie Luxembourg (7 Mar) and the Philharmonie de Paris (9 Mar). Adams opera stagings next spring include new productions of The Gospel According to the Other Mary in its Austrian premiere at the Volksoper Wien as part of the Vienna Festival (15 Jun), and Nixon in China at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin staged by the Hauen und Stechen collective (22 Jun).
> Concert info

15 March, London
James MacMillan  Fiat Lux (European premiere)
The composer conducts the first European performance of his recent cantata Fiat Lux at the Barbican in London. The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus are joined by vocal soloists Mary Bevan and Roderick Williams in this light-filled setting of poetry by Dana Gioia, commissioned to consecrate a remarkable crystal cathedral in California’s Orange County. Also receiving its European premiere this spring is MacMillan’s orchestral work Timotheus, Bacchus and Cecilia, presented by Hallé forces in Manchester under Mark Elder (1 Jun).
> Concert info

21 March, Cologne
Michel van der Aa  The Book of Water (German premiere)
Cologne plays host to the German premiere of Michel van der Aa’s most recent chamber music theatre work for actor, string quartet and film. The performance at the Cologne Philharmonie features actor Samuel West on stage, players from Ensemble Modern in the pit, and actor Timothy West and soprano Mary Bevan on film. Since its premiere last year, The Book of Water has been staged on a Dutch tour, in Antwerp, Hong Kong and Tongyeong. Van der Aa performances in the spring also include the UK premiere of Shades of Red by the London Sinfonietta (24 Feb).
> Opera info

26 March, London
Harrison Birtwistle  Wigmore Hall Celebration Day
The Nash Ensemble presents A Celebration of the Life and Music of Sir Harrison Birtwistle, honouring the leading composer who died last year. The three concerts include The Moth Requiem, Fantasia upon all the notes and Three Songs from the Holy Forest together with chamber commissions. The Nash Ensemble is joined by soprano Claire Booth, the BBC Singers, conductor Geoffrey Paterson and students from the Royal Academy of Music. 2024 is the 90th anniversary year of Birtwistle’s birth.
> Concert info

26 March, Salzburg
Mark Simpson  Phôs (world premiere)
The Salzburg Bach Choir and wind and brass players from the Mozarteum Orchestra give the first performance of Simpson’s new score for voices and an ensemble matching that of the Bruckner Mass in E minor. The work sets a poem by Rilke exploring themes of primal light and the creation of man. Simpson’s impassioned Violin Concerto receives its first Scottish performances next Spring with Nicola Benedetti and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under David Afkham (21-23 Mar). This follows acclaimed performances with Benedetti in London, Cincinnati and Cologne.
> Concert info

22 April, Vienna
HK Gruber  Short Stories from the Vienna Woods (Austrian premiere)
Drawn from his highly successful opera Tales from the Vienna Woods, HK Gruber’s orchestral suite Short Stories receives its Austrian premiere at the Vienna Konzerthaus next Spring. The concert, featuring the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the composer, also includes Gruber’s much-travelled trumpet concerto Aerial with Selina Ott as soloist and Radio City from Manhattan Broadcasts. Gruber conducts a further performance of Short Stories in Mainz in the New Year, coupled with his Piano Concerto with Frank Dupree as soloist (26 Jan).
> Concert info

1 May, Birmingham
Anna Clyne  ATLAS (European premiere)
Jeremy Denk is piano soloist in Anna Clyne’s new concerto, receiving its European premiere by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kazuki Yamada. ATLAS is the latest piece by the composer to be inspired by art, in this case a portfolio of work by Gerhard Richter, collecting together photos, news cutting and sketches since the mid-1960s. Other spring highlighs for Clyne next year include the European premiere of Quarter Days for string quartet and orchestra, given by the Meta4 Quartet and Jyväskylä Sinfonia (18 Jan), and further performances by Martin Fröst of the clarinet concerto Weathered in Valladolid (23 Feb), Helsinki (6 Mar) and Hamburg (13 Jun).
> Concert info

1 June, Amsterdam
Unsuk Chin  Alice in Wonderland (Dutch premiere)
The season-long Unsuk Chin feature in Amsterdam ends in spectacular fashion with the Dutch premiere of Alice in Wonderland presented by the NTR ZaterdagMatinee series at the Concertgebouw. This concert performance of Chin’s surreal version of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice tales, mixing dark humour with brilliant orchestration, features the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic conducted by Markus Stenz. The starry cast sees Siobhan Stagg in the title role, with vocalists also including Scott Hendricks at the Mad Hatter, Andrew Watts as the White Rabbit and Heidi Melton as the Queen of Hearts.
> Concert info

16 June, Cologne
Ondrej Adámek  INES (world premiere)
The new opera by Prague-born, Spanish-resident composer Ondrej Adámek, who signed with Boosey & Hawkes last year, is unveiled in the coming season. Francois-Xavier Roth conducts Cologne Opera forces in a run of six performances directed by the work’s librettist Katharina Schmitt. The title INES refers to the scientific scale used to measure nuclear incidents and the opera’s love story transports the Orpheus/Eurydice myth into a post-apocalyptic world
> Concert info

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