Dear subscribers.

I hope you are well.

Have you heard my new cello piece, “You Sail to the Sky”?

It was commissioned by the incredible cellist, Clare O’Connell and released by NMC records in early May.

Her cello is tuned to the closest I could get it to DADGAD, the famous Nick Drake guitar tuning (thus the homage to him in the title). Clare uses a good old fashioned analogue looping pedal to layer up making a serene, slow moving piece so perhaps save listening for the end of the day.

There’s a new kid on the block in choir land - “The Caw”, a collective of Stroud based creative musicians presenting brand new work. Here I am, conducting a new song, “Old Oaks”. I really am enjoying conducting. It’s so brilliant to be at the centre of the action and the performance, there’s really nothing like it.

I wrote “Old Oaks” with Melanie Golding. It’s about the first time I walked along the footpaths of Stroud borderlands only to discover a couple of years later that many generations of my ancestors had lived in that very spot for centuries….spooky? Yup - a little - but also very good song starter and Melanie (as always) did not fail me in coming up with superb lyrics to express this layering of generations in one place.

I’ve added some more SATB scores to my shop. Most of them are pretty straight forward. Do let me know if there’s anything particularly you are looking for, I’m always happy to help or consider doing new arrangements of songs from my catalogue.

Finally, here’s a playlist of new discoveries I hope you might also enjoy. Now I’m working as a Music Therapist alongside my composing, I get time driving around Gloucestershire which gives me precious listening time. Here is a playlist of some of the treasure I’ve enjoyed listening to over and over.

Thanks so much as always for your support. As someone who opted out of social media many years ago, I’m so lucky to have this list to allow me to toot my own trumpet four times a year. And it goes without saying, if that is one time too many, please do unsubscribe.