Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra has just announced its decision to appoint and welcome Joss Holden-Rea as the BSO Resound Young Composer in Association. During his year-long association with the Orchestra’s world renowned disabled-led ensemble, Joss will have the opportunity to develop his compositional technique and experience through working with the ensemble and its Composer in Residence, Alexander Campkin.
Alongside composing for traditional instruments in the ensemble, Joss will develop his skills in working with new instruments and Assistive Music Technology, as well as learning to compose for an inclusive and accessible ensemble.
Joss Holden-Rea, BSO Resound Young Composer in Association, said: “It’s impossibly rare to find a musician who’s both a virtuosic classical performer and a truly open minded collaborator, and somehow I’ve been given the opportunity to work with 7 of them!
Close collaboration
“I feel very lucky to get the chance to write for such an incredible ensemble and I’m looking forward to a year of close collaboration that will hopefully lead to something special. It’s truly an honour that I can also play small part in all they’re doing to change perceptions of disability in the classical music world.”
BSO Resound’s Young Composer in Association is supported by a bursary from Allianz Musical Insurance, who became the ensemble’s supporting partner in January 2019, marking BSO Resound’s first anniversary with a new corporate partnership which champions inclusion.
Primetime TV shows
Joss has created music for an eclectic mix of projects across the television, film, and theatre industries. As part of the Workhouse Music collective Joss has composed soundtracks for primetime TV shows (with credits including The Apprentice, The Secret Life of 6 Year Olds, and The Taste).
Award-wining films
Joss has also worked with BAFTA winning directors and on award winning short-films that have received screenings at Cannes Film Festival and Picturehouse Cinemas. Currently, Joss is working on Sheffield Theatres and English Touring Theatres’ joint adaptation of Matt Haig’s best-selling book Reasons to Stay Alive.
Dougie Scarfe, chief executive of the BSO said: “We’re delighted to welcome Joss Holden-Rea as BSO Resound’s Young Composer in Association. Since its founding in 1893, the Orchestra has been a commissioner of new music. From Sir Dan Godfrey welcoming Elgar, Holst and Ethel Smyth, to working with composers Mark Anthony Turnage, Sally Beamish and Alexander Campkin in recent years, championing new talent is at the core of the BSO’s mission.”
Making history
In 2018, BSO made history by becoming the first orchestra in the world to form a professional disabled-led ensemble. Six months after the ensemble’s creation, BSO Resound became the first disabled-led ensemble ever to perform at the BBC Proms, where they performed the London premiere of Hoping, the second movement of a piece by Alexander Campkin.
Further details are available from http://www.bsolive.com/
Philip R Buttall
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