Nearly autumn again! (Definitely time to reflect, particularly on why it’s taken me nearly a year to update my Blog – oh dearie me…)
Anyway, time for an early (or very late) resolution: update website and Blog at least monthly – wish me luck!
I’ve been busy, of course. I’ve been composing – a couple of orchestral pieces – and arranging – mainly for Cor Trefaldwyn, a wonderful band of singers I work with on Wednesdays at St Nicholas Church in Montgomery, and teaching – increasingly privately as well as my continuing work for Junior Trinity.
Details of the new orchestral pieces I’ve made – A Further Obscuration of Roger’s Masks and Tir na nÓg – can be found here, and of three of my sets of choral arrangements – Ordinary Songs of Love and Loss, Three Lully Airs and Saith o Ganeuon Gwerin Cymraeg (Seven Welsh Folk Songs) – here.
But the big news story for me has been the eventual broadcast première of Canzoni d’Amore da Lontano – Cavatina for Small Orchestra, composed in 2020. Scored for small orchestra and shortlisted for BBC NOW Composition Wales 2021 (click here to read my BBC NOW Composition Wales 2021 profile), this appeared on BBC Radio 3’s New Music Show on 6 August, performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under their Principal Conductor Ryan Bancroft. You can find details of Canzoni… here, along with an excerpt of the BBC broadcast. If you’d like to hear the whole piece, just email@ianmorgan-williams.com.
Of course, I still haven’t got around to updating news of my home-baking adventures. But I have been developing some interesting recipe ideas, especially in the bread realm. Also, with an abundance of homegrown and locally foraged fruit, jam has been the order of the season for the last few weeks.
Most exciting though is the range of fruit-infused spirits that has been macerating in the garage. So far these include Strawberry Gin and Raspberry, Nectarine & Mint Gin (these have already been bottled), Blood Orange Brandy, Victoria Plum & Cinnamon Brandy and, most recently, Conference Pear, Bay Leaf, Chocolate & Honey Whisky. The brandies and whisky need a tad longer in the dark. But Christmas is looking good…
Do please contact me directly if you’d like to purchase or hire some my music, or if you’d like to peruse any of the items in the Lists of Works.