The official site of Nigel Hess
Nigel's brand new CD New London Pictures, released on April 29th, was Classic FM's 'CD of the Week'. Nigel's music for Symphonic Wind Orchestra is performed by bands worldwide, and this new CD features 12 tracks performed by the Central Band of the RAF, one of the premier military bands in the UK today, conducted by the composer. Works include New London Pictures, Ladies in Lavender, The Lochnagar Suite, Monck's March, Shakespeare Pictures and A Christmas Overture. For more details about this exciting release including how to order the CD, download tracks, listen to excerpts and watch a video of the recording, please visit the album's webpage (link below).
"Thank God the days are gone when we have to apologise when a contemporary composer is writing a tune. Nigel Hess writes good tunes, and this is a terrific CD. Please don't hesitate." (David Mellor, Classic FM)
Never out of Classic FM's Hall of Fame since their respective releases, 2013's chart sees Ladies in Lavender rising 17 places from last year's position to number 96, while the Piano Concerto comes in at number 246.
"Nigel Hess' main theme for this 2004 film starring Maggie Smith and Judi Dench is simple and beautiful. Performed by award-winning violinist Joshua Bell and the Royal Philharmonia Orchestra, it is one of the most enduring film scores of recent years." (Classic FM)
"As modern piano concertos go, Nigel Hess' has to be one of the most revered. Originally commissioned by the Prince of Wales as a tribute to the memory of the Queen Mother, it has since been recorded by the likes of Lang Lang — testament to its status as a performers' concerto." (Classic FM)
Admission: One Shilling was first performed by legendary actress Patricia Routledge and international concert pianist Piers Lane in 2009 as part of the annual Dame Myra Hess Day at London’s National Gallery. The production tells the extraordinary story of how concert pianist Myra Hess founded and organized a six-year series of morale-boosting, spirit-lifting lunchtime concerts at the National Gallery throughout the darkest days of the Second World War.
Devised by Nigel Hess (Myra's great-nephew), the story, related in Dame Myra’s own words, tells how the “great adventure” of those 1600 concerts began and how they continued while the Luftwaffe’s bombs rained down on London.
Admission: One Shilling has now been performed around the UK and Europe over 40 times since its National Gallery premiere, and January 2013 saw its first USA performance in Chicago with Lesley Nicol (Downton Abbey's Mrs Patmore) and Inna Faliks sharing the performing honours. Nigel was in Chicago to direct the piece.
The next London performance of Admission: One Shilling will be at the Wigmore Hall on June 14th - click below for details.
Following Nigel's new CD with the Central Band of the RAF, he has been commissioned to write a new piece for them commemorating the 70th anniversary of the famous 'Dambusters' raid.
Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis.
March Barnes Wallis was given its broadcast premiere on Radio 2's Friday Night is Music Night on June 17th, and will feature as part of the Central Band's 2013 tour around the UK
This hugely successful Festival, of which Nigel is Patron, celebrates its second year in September. The Festival is open to anyone interested in music and the arts as a whole and premieres works by both established and upcoming composers from around the world. This unique and exciting venture will focus on accessible classical music of passion, sensitivity, and romance to delight the soul. The Composers Festival offers the opportunity for today’s composers to write and present moving and emotionally provoking music with the chance to have their works publicly performed and acknowledged in evocative surroundings.