In 2010 Harmonie Concert Band successfully applied for a place in the Making Music Adopt a Composer programme which gives amateur music groups the opportunity to collaborate with an emerging composer over a 12 month period to produce a new piece of music, culminating in a premiere performance recorded by the BBC. To find out more visit the website
Applicants face stiff competition from across the country, and Harmonie was delighted to come through the selection process and win one of only 6 places on the programme, as well as being the only Wind Band taking part that year.
Harmonie Concert Band were paired with Aaron Parker, who at the time was in the second year of his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music. To find out more about Aaron visit his website
November 2010 saw Aaron’s first rehearsal with the band, for which Aaron had adapted one of his previous compositions, originally for a saxophone quartet, into a piece for a 50-strong wind band. This was subsequently premiered the BASBWE London Festival in March 2011.
This was a precursor to the main collaboration on a major original work based on the theme of the Olympic Games, with the goal of integrating this into Harmonie?s participation in the prestigious Music Nation project, part of the Cultural Olympiad project for London 2012.
The project proved to be both exciting and challenging, with Aaron visiting the band several times over the subsequent months, producing an evolving series of drafts of his piece, responding to feedback from the band, and developing his knowledge and skills in relation to wind band music.
The result was a major work entitled Dancing Rings, consisting of five movements which drew on inspiration from a sculpture designed for the Bejing Olympics.
Three of the movements were showcased at a concert in July 2011 which was recorded by the BBC, with excerpts subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 1st March 2012. The full five movement piece was premiered at Harmonie’s gala concert on 3rd March 2012, which was officially sanctioned as part of the Cultural Olympiad Making Music weekend.