My recent mentoring session with Tansy Davies during her visit to Cardiff for Composition Wales has given me a great deal to think about. We had met once previously, when BBC NOW workshopped and performed my Concerto for Orchestra, Concentrations, during their Composition Wales project last year. As we looked at what I have written since and talked we touched upon an apparent disconnect (of sorts) between my music and my character. Talking about mining the personal, being your brand and making my work a truer reflection of me has given me a great deal to think about in terms of trying to fuse my academic background, my (somewhat) lad-about-town character and the popular culture I like.
Thinking on this I anticipate a change in direction, facilitated (in part) by my most recent piece, a trio for sax, bass and piano. Written for first performance in the gin lounge at St David’s Hall, this less formal location and more modern instrumental line-up seems to chime with Davies’ advice; especially as the piece’s textures were inspired by those heard in the work of acid jazz group Red Snapper. I now find myself re-considering the work's title, to introduce my personality into it.
Having written quite a lot of small scale (and especially solo) works Davies thinks I might need to turn my sights to a larger project, something to get my teeth into and I anticipate a great deal more thinking and re-evaluating of my working methods going forward.