Compositions
While I was at school, I wrote music. Playing instruments came later. My teachers suggested I attend Leeds University to study composition with Alexander Goehr. That was a great idea. I found his teaching inspirational and I'm still thinking about things he said today.
Playing took over and I wrote nothing for many years, but I started to write again a while back.
Esperanza for baroque oboe and harpsichord, was written for my partner, Gail Hennessy.
Steven Devine seemed delighted with the harpsichord part so in 2016 I wrote him a pieces - Flats - and subsquently two more.
Other pieces I have written:
Esperanza for Gail Hennessy
baroque oboe & harpsichord
Echoes and Falls for Gail Hennessy
baroque oboe
Flats for Steven Devine
harpsichord
Naturals for Steven Devine
harpsichord
Prelude with sharps for Steven Devine
harpsichord (also version for Ottavino)
Gazing out to sea for Lucy Russell
violin
Tha mi 'n dòchas... for Constance Allanic
Spanish double harp
My Gostly Fader for Kate Semmens
soprano & organ
Feare no more the heate o' th' Sun
for Kate Semmens, soprano and organ
Ceum thar na mara for Christine Hurley
cello
Cogarnaich anns a' ghaoith for Christine Hurley
cello
To the Heath for Sarah Parfitt
viola
Hard darknin for Reiko Ichise
bass viol
Ahint for Lucy Russell
two violins
Áthas... for Sarah MacMahon
string quartet
Dance in Shadows for Matt Wadsworth
theorbo & clapping (dancer)
The Fair Maid of Perth for Pamela Thorby
five recorders (or more)
Tränen für die Syrischen Kinder for Xuefei Yang
guitar (also version for harp)
​
I wrote Berry Hill in memory of Iain McGillivray.  It was premiered  by the Fitzwilliam String Quartet on March 18th 2020.  They played it twice that night;  this is a recording of the second time.  The audience collection will fund a piece for next year;  my piece came free to ensure we still had a Walthamstow premiere in 2019-20 season!  Many thanks to the Fitzwilliams for allowing this recording to be made.
Pieces waiting performances
Some keyboard pieces I wrote, Stepping Stones, a piece in search of a title and Coragio (written for Trevor Pinnock's 60th birthday) are all looking for a performance.
Berry Hill
Stronghold
Written for Malachy Robinson.
A Distant Kiss
During 2019 I wrote Vender, an unnaccompanied violin
solo for Miki Takahashi. Â Miki intends to premier it in
Basel, 2021.
In the meantime this is the 'lockdown' premiere.
Daalamist
Vender
O'r Galon - a soliloquy for trombone against a drone, for Emily White (a musician to inspire other musicians). Â Premiered at the Tin Hut, Aberdeenshire and on the Welsh borders since then..
O'r Galon
A Distant Kiss, for string quartet was a present for Lucy Russell, first violinist of the Fitzwilliam Quartet. It's been played by the Fitzwilliam Quartet at several concerts since the premiere in 2012.
I made a different version of that material for string
quartet violin/viola/cello/double bass for the  Robinson Panoramic Quartet.
I wrote Daalamist during 2020 for Adam Römer on viola, in memory of Gustav Clarkson.
Premiered on-line here.