Looking back at 2017

As familiar pitches veered into their micro-tonal penumbra, the sound remained ultra-blended, instruments morphing imperceptibly into each other, the orchestral fabric constantly in flux. An enthralling performance. " The Guardian (Under the Skin, 4 April 2017)

Philip Venables’ collaboration with performance artist David Hoyle is astonishingly powerful, with Hoyle’s garishly made-up face delivering a rant about everything from elections and gender to sodomy and revolution, precisely edited to Venables’ score with its echoes of expressionist music theatre and Weimar cabaret. Scabrous, fierce, and sometimes very funny, it’s a perfect fusion of music and image. The Guardian (Illusions, New Music Biennial July 2017)

The performance under Atherton was outstanding, with the Sinfonietta players meeting all the unusual demands of the score – including forming a male-voice chorus for one number – with total aplomb. " The Guardian (Henze's Voices, 11 October 2017)

As the curtain opened on a dimly lit stage, a startling sight greeted us: 40 string players, seated in two rows facing the audience, started playing a cluster-chord that seemed to contain every microtone within a span of about six octaves. " The Times (Stockhausen's Trans, 6 December 2017)