FRESH | ENERGETIC | PUNCHY

BBC NOW – NOW!, our series dedicated to the best music being written today, is back this autumn with two UK premieres, plus a symphony by our former Composer-in-Association, Huw Watkins.

First up, the UK premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s Coincident Dances. Frenetic energy and a multicultural aural palette radiate in this depiction of the sounds of New York. The second UK premiere comes in the form of Elena Kats-Chernin’s violin concerto Fantasie im Wintergarten, written for tonight’s soloist, Emily Sun. Inspired by a 1920s silent film set in the fairground circus Wintergarten in Berlin, the concerto explores the contrast of love and betrayal – from light to shadow, tango to chaos, virtuosity to suspended lyricism. To close we turn to Huw Watkins’ Second Symphony, written during the pandemic this large scale work, whilst relatively short, packs a punchy delivery of ravishing texture and expansive melody.

Jessie Montgomery Coincident Dances [UK Premiere]

Elena Kats-Chernin Fantasie im Wintergarten [UK Premiere]

Huw Watkins Symphony No. 2

-

Gemma New conductor

Emily Sun violin