Last year in the Sir David Willcocks Carol Competition, we unearthed three wonderful pieces.
In the year since then, one of our winning composers Christopher Churcher has enjoyed a year full of high notes. He’s won the National Centre for Early Music Young Composer’s Award, the JAM President’s Commission following their VOCES8 Masterclass, and he’s had a piece (Arborescent with the Consone Quartet) played on BBC Radio 3.
To celebrate a wonderful year for this exciting young composer, we caught up with Christopher to ask him about the year he’s had, and to find out what might be coming next.
TBC: Last year, you were one of the winners of the Sir David Willcocks Carol Competition. Can you tell us a bit about how that happened, and about your wonderful piece Before the Ice is in the Pools which David Hill, John Rutter and Jonathan Willcocks all loved?
CC: I saw the competition publicised on social media, and simply couldn’t neglect the opportunity to write for an ensemble like The Bach Choir. So, to hear John Rutter speaking so favourably about my carol was just a dream! Looking back at the piece a year later really helps me appreciate the extent to which I’ve changed as a composer, but still I enjoy the microcosm which the piece inhabits. My intention was to write a carol that spoke to the sense of awe which accompanies the winter season and festivities of Christmas, and I think the piece lucidly encapsulates that phenomenon.
TBC: How did it feel to hear your work ringing out in Cadogan Hall?
CC: It was really electrifying. Not only do I recall how intimately the piece was conveyed by the choir (even in a large space like Cadogan Hall) I also remember how warmly it was received by the audience. To know that a piece that I put a lot of my heart into touched some people on a cold winter’s night was really special. It’s that sort of irreplaceable memory that keeps you going as an artist when you’re having a tough day.
TBC: Since then, you’ve gone on to have an incredible year as a composer – you won the National Centre for Early Music Young Composer’s Award, you won the JAM President’s Commission following their VOCES8 Masterclass, and you’ve even had your piece Arborescent with the Consone Quartet played on BBC Radio 3! Did you expect to have such an incredible year?
CC: Not at all. Everything has truly come as a massive surprise. I always endeavour to move forward and enter into every opportunity with no expectations, and simply hoping to learn and grow from the experience. Whilst it’s been extremely invigorating to have achieved these things, I value much more what I’ve been able to learn from working with the extraordinary musicians of ensembles like VOCES8 and the Consone Quartet.
TBC: Do you intend to write for choirs more in future? Or is there another ensemble or area that you’re particularly interested in writing for?
CC: I love writing choral music. It’s increasingly becoming my compositional happy place, but I’m really enjoying exploring other ensembles at the moment as well. I’m currently writing a piece for Pierrot Ensemble (piano, ‘cello, violin, clarinet, flute), as part of my university course and finding it so rewarding! I conceive of music very visually, and the strictures of a ’text’ really help my ideas to materialise, so writing music without words has posed a set of challenges. As a result, I’ve learnt a lot from writing for the ensemble. Other than that, a bit predictable; but I’d really love to write an orchestral piece some time soon. I’m storing up ideas!
TBC: Tell us about your upcoming plans – what are you currently composing, and when will we be able to hear it?
Well, I’ve just reached the end of my first term at Oxford. Such an intensive course has inevitably cut down on the amount of time I’ve been able to devote to composition, but I’ve still got plenty of projects in the works. I’ve formed a wind quintet with some friends at university and I’m going to write something for us to play together. I’m also working on a set of canticles for my college chapel choir. In addition to that, though, I now have a commission from JAM on the Marsh which will be performed at the festival in Hythe this Summer. I haven’t received all the detail, but can’t wait to start working on it!
We can’t wait to see what’s next for Christopher – we’ll keep you updated.