Airs and Fanfares (2024)
(for Youth Orchestra)

Airs and Fanfares was commissioned by Yorchestra, the holiday youth orchestra for the city of York. The standard of the young players ranges from Grade V or VI to Grade VIII and beyond, so I wrote a short piece that would allow the advanced players to shine, but would not daunt the less experienced.

Fanfares create the opening, first on brass and then in the woodwind; when the strings and harp enter, they transform the fanfare music into a simple ‘air’. This alternation of bold fanfares and more lyrical or dancing melodic material, gives the piece its overall structure. Its six minutes have an underlying ‘Fast, Slow, Fast’ form, where the slow airs showcase soloists – mainly woodwind – and the final fast fanfares create an exuberant finish.

Airs and Fanfares will be first performed on August 30th 2024, in the Jack Lyons Concert Hall at the University of York.

NL 2024