We are thrilled that one of our composers-in-residence, Liz Dilnot Johnson, has been awarded a prestigious Ivor Novello Composer Award for the piece When a Child is a Witness.

Written for choir, children’s choir, mezzo-soprano soloist, organ, piano, violin/Hardanger fiddle and refugee groups, the 100-minute requiem mass was commissioned and produced by Ex Cathedra for Coventry’s City of Culture.

Winner in the Community & Participation category, When a Child is a Witness was created in collaboration with a wide range of refugee groups in Coventry: Carriers of Hope, Inini Initiative (a group supported by Coventry Refugee & Migrant Centre and the Belgrade Theatre), the European Youth Music Refugee Choir, Ravensdale Primary School, plus soloists Kadialy Kouyate, Gabriella Liandu and Lucy Russell.

Built around the musical structure of a Requiem, Johnson and Ex Cathedra worked with each of the groups to create new content that occupied musical ‘windows’ throughout the piece, a journey the composer documented at https://lizjohnsoncomp.wordpress.com/2022/11/18/being-heard-being-seen/.

With funding from Arts Council England amongst others, the project culminated in a performance at Coventry Cathedral in February 2022, with musical direction from Jeffrey Skidmore and Rebecca Ledgard.  The performance was filmed and subsequently streamed ‘as live’ for a limited period.

Liz Dilnot Johnson commented:

“During my time working with the different community networks that support the journeys of refugees and local people in Coventry I have got to hear, learn and experience the stories that have touched my heart and will stay with me for ever. I would like to take this opportunity to thank every single person involved in this life-changing production.

“This work, commissioned and produced in partnership with the brilliant Birmingham-based choir Ex Cathedra, with whom I have a long-standing working relationship, will continue next year with our next project shining a light on the power of economics, the plight of climate change and the need to live within the resources available to sustain human life.”

Ivor Novello Awards are judged by fellow composers and music creators for creative excellence. The jury included 48 composers and practitioners from across the classical, jazz and sound art community who judged the nine nominated categories. The jury called the work “an artistically ambitious and emotionally compelling work that is firmly rooted in the contributions of the participants” and “evocative music with a purpose and meaningful sense of engagement”.

The Ivors Composer Awards are supported by PRS for Music. BBC Radio 3 will broadcast the ceremony in a special edition of the New Music Show on 19 November at 10pm, which will also be available on BBC Sounds. Listen at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001f5k3

We are honoured to have continued working with the Carriers of Hope “Let’s Play” group since February.

Christopher Morley has interviewed Sally Beamish for the Birmingham Post and Midlands Music Reviews ahead of our Songs of Protest concert on Remembrance Sunday, a concert that includes the world premiere of A Knock on the Door…

“A Knock on the Door [is] Sally Beamish’s response to the use of torture, and its effect upon the perpetrators as well as the victims. The hard-hitting libretto is by her husband, Peter Thomson, and she tells me how they came to keep a sense of perspective and avoid obvious sensationalism when dealing with this harrowing subject.

“’We wanted to emphasise the ‘ordinariness’ of people affected by torture, and the fact that, given certain circumstances, anyone might find themselves on either side of this human tragedy,’ she explains from their Brighton home.

“’Peter’s language is simple, and so is the music. I have used a basic keyboard, rather than a piano, which gives the score a rather banal – even slightly mechanical – feel. There are two choirs, and the libretto is a dialogue between them.

“’At one point we had a meeting with the former Beirut hostage John McCarthy, and he remarked that it was often humour that restored sanity in the most unthinkable situations. So Peter felt he had licence to incorporate a measure of humour into a pretty devastating situation.’”

Read the full interview and preview here…

One Tuesday 8 November, 550 children from 18 primary schools across Birmingham are set to join Ex Cathedra at Symphony Hall for a free Singing Playgrounds “Spark Event” session provided in partnership with B:Music (the charity that runs Symphony Hall) and Birmingham Music Education Partnership.

The event is for Key Stage 2 children who would like to train as playground “Song Leaders” and lead other children at their school in singing-play.

This will be supported online through Singing Playgrounds online resources (again, free to Birmingham primary schools) throughout the year, which will culminate in a Big Sing Celebration in June.

This year’s Singing Playgrounds programme coincides with the launch of ChoirMaker, which will enable KS3 children to continue their musical journey by forming a choir in their secondary schools with specially-curated repertoire. In December, the first cohort of ChoirMaker students will also be having their Spark Event in Symphony Hall.