Andy Scott is busy composing the New Music Biennial commission that he is writing for Foden’s Band, soprano / narrator Anna-Clare Monk and harpist Lauren Scott.
 
The new work, A Child Like You, poses questions about children who are fostered, adopted or orphaned, and draws upon the real life experiences of a child refugee who fled Uganda in 1972 and lived with Andy Scott’s own family.
 
A Child Like You will be premiered at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester on 2 May 2014 at the centre of a longer programme of works by Andy that will form the first half of a concert by Foden’s Band. Further performances of the new commission will take place in high profile weekend festivals at the Southbank Centre, London on Sunday 6 July and at Glasgow UNESCO City of Music on Saturday 2 August, linked to the city’s hosting of the Commonwealth Games.
 
Click to visit the RNCM website for details of the world premiere performance of A Child Like You
 
Click to visit the Projects section of this website for more information about the New Music Biennial commission
 
Click to visit the PRS for Music Foundation New Music Biennial website

Andy Scott was the subject of a feature article in the regional magazine Cheshire Life this month.
 
The feature, entitled Andy Scott’s music is filling Sandbach...and reaching farther afield, saw Andy singing the praises of Foden’s Band, the award winning local band with which he is Composer in Residence. The piece also gives some background to the New Music Biennial commission that he is currently writing for Foden’s, soprano / narrator Anna-Clare Monk and harpist Lauren Scott, outlining plans for the new work and the process of its creation. The commission, A Child Like You, will be premiered at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester on 2 May.
 
Interviewed by Robert Beale, Andy said “What I’ve learnt, over the past six years, is that the work of a band such as Foden’s is world-class in terms of technique, musicality and commitment. It has an amazing sound … so warm and with a huge dynamic range. And there are probably people in Cheshire who might not know too much about the world of bands but could be interested in this showcase for the county … and could offer real support to a little gem in their midst.”
 
Click to read the full article Andy Scott’s music is filling Sandbach... on the Cheshire Life website
 
Click to read more about the New Music Biennial commission in the Projects section of this website
 
Click to visit the website for Foden’s Band
 

Andy Scott and Rob Buckland will lead the Shrewsbury Saxophone Day this month, offering saxophonists the chance to participate in an enjoyable day of playing and performance.
 
The day will take place at Shrewsbury School on Sunday 30 March from 10.00am until 5.00pm. Andy and Rob will lead a packed programme of workshops, masterclasses and ensemble sessions throughout the day. There will also be an evening concert showcasing work from the day, and providing the opportunity to hear the Apollo Saxophone Quartet in advance of their South Africa tour in April.
 
The Shrewsbury Saxophone Day is open to players of approximately Grade 5 standard and above. The event is kindly supported by Vandoren, Selmer Paris and Astute Music. As well as the programme of participatory activities, there will be a range of trade stands with sheet music and merchandise of interest to saxophonists. Early booking is advised for the masterclass sessions, as there are limited places available.
 
For further information and bookings, please click to contact Maria Eglinton
 
Click to visit the website for the Apollo Saxophone Quartet

​The Royal Northern College of Music Saxophone Orchestra directed by Rob Buckland and Andy Scott will be giving a lunchtime concert at the Holden Gallery, Manchester School of Art, on 27 March at 1.15pm.
 
The programme will include The Golden Horn, a new work by Andy Scott. The Golden Horn is a fast, Turkish influenced piece with a central section that showcases the specific features of the featured instrument, in this case the saxophone. A different version with a flute specific centerpiece was premiered by the Tempest Flute Trio last month. 
 
The programme will also include a selection of works for large saxophone ensemble by Barbara Thompson and Moondog. The works by Barbara Thompson appear on the Apollo Saxophone Orchestra CD Perpetual Motion, while the Moondog works were recorded by the London Saxophonic, both with Andy Scott on tenor saxophone.
 
The 20 piece ensemble includes all the saxophonists currently studying at the RNCM, and performs a wide range of engaging, accessible and sometimes unexpected repertoire. The RNCM Saxophone Orchestra led by Rob and Andy performed at the prestigious World Saxophone Congress in 2012 with a programme of works by RNCM tutors, including Andy Scott’s Tjuonavagge, an atmospheric piece depicting the simultaneous coldness and warmth of the striking Lapland landscape.
 
Click to view the RNCM website for details of the RNCM Saxophone Orchestra lunchtime concert
 
Click to view the Apollo Saxophone Orchestra CD Perpetual Motion on the Amazon website

Gerard McChrystal and Craig Ogden will perform a work by Andy Scott at Sandbach Concert Series this month. The acclaimed duo will open their programme with Nemesis at St Mary’s Church Hall, Sandbach on 26 March. 
 
Nemesis is a three movement work in a contemporary classical style with jazz and Latin influences. There is a short improvised section in part two, with an alternative notated solo. This version for soprano saxophone and guitar was recorded by Gerard and Craig on their CD Pluckblow. Nemesis was originally composed for soprano saxophone and vibraphone and recorded by Rob Buckland and Simone Rebello on the CD Towards the Light. The version for flute and guitar was recorded by Paul Edmund-Davies and Craig Ogden on The Bad Tempered Flute, the Flute Music of Andy Scott. 
 
“Craig Ogden and Gerard McChrystal set the thermometer high with their sinuous and heady interpretation of Andy Scott's Nemesis. Ogden's highly disciplined guitar lines traced a pinprick route through Scott's scarifying three movement set piece, while McChrystal burrowed and mined, and ultimately scaled its petulant peaks and troughs. McChrystal's saxophone swings acrobatically from high octane celebration to sweet and low down melancholy in one and the same breath, wheedling more and more layers of complexity from Ogden's distilled guitar lines.” - The Irish Times, November 2006
 
Gerard McChrystal comes from Derry, N.Ireland. To date he has performed in over 30 countries including at London's Wigmore Hall, San Francisco Opera House and Suttgart Stattshalle. He has performed with Philip Glass, Soweto String Quartet, guitarist Craig Ogden, The Syzmanowski String Quartet, The Smith Quartet, tenorist Tommy Smith, Irish choir Anuna, Ensemble Bash as well as many orchestras including The Philharmonia, San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC NOW, BBC Concert Orchestra, National Symphony of Ireland and Stuttgart Statsorchestre. Gerard is an ambassador for Derry-Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013. 
 
Australian born guitarist Craig Ogden is one of the most exciting artists of his generation. His many recordings have received wide acclaim, and his Classic FM albums The Guitarist and Summertime both shot straight to no.1 in the UK classical chart in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Craig Ogden has performed concertos with all of the main UK orchestras plus many abroad and has presented on BBC Radio 3 and on ABC Classic FM (Australia). Craig Ogden is Principal Lecturer in Guitar at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and Visiting Lecturer at London’s Royal College of Music.
 
Sandbach Concert Series is a concert series aimed at promoting music making by youth and community groups of Sandbach and surrounding areas in conjunction with professional musicians. Each main concert at 8.00pm at St Mary’s Church Hall, Sandbach is preceded by a spotlight concert by local young musicians at 7.00pm. There is also an art exhibition on display at each concert, and a special pre-concert Early Bird dinner offer is available at the nearby La Casa Vecchia Italian restaurant.
 
Click to view the sheet music for Nemesis at Astute Music
 
Click to visit Amazon to hear extracts of Nemesis from Pluckblow
 
Click to view details of the event on the Sandbach Concert Series website
 
Click to visit the website for Gerard McChrystal
 
Click to visit the website for Craig Ogden