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An Orchestral Commission from British Composer Ryan Wigglesworth
The PRS for Music Foundation is supporting the Hallé in co-commissioning a new work from composer-conductor Ryan Wigglesworth. The piece will be premiered in Amsterdam by the Royal Concertgebouw in May 2017, followed by a UK premiere by the Hallé at the July 2017 Cheltenham Festival. The Hallé will include the work as part of its own Manchester Thursday Series in Spring 2018.
Since his first major commission in 2008, Ryan Wigglesworth has fast been establishing himself as one of the foremost composer conductors of his generation. He has written for the BBCSO, Aldeburgh Music and the Cleveland Orchestra and, as artist-in-residence at ENO, is currently writing his first opera. Throughout this time, Ryan has been steadily building a relationship with the Hallé as a conductor, first working together in 2010 to record a Gramophone winning CD of Birtwistle’s orchestral works. Making his Hallé concert debut in December 2013, he then conducted the world premiere of his revised Violin Concerto in 2014. In July 2015, Ryan and the Hallé recorded a CD of his own works. This growing relationship culminated with his appointment as the Hallé’s Principal Guest Conductor from September 2015. This close working over the last six years now offers exciting potential for Ryan’s relationship with the Hallé to develop from conductor to composer. Ryan is greatly inspired by the players he is writing for, so composing for an orchestra with whom he has built such a fruitful working relationship will be extremely rewarding for both sides.