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Premier Performances at Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh festival recently showcased a series of captivating performances, including the world premiere of Tansy Davies' percussion concerto Earth Works and Freya Waley-Cohen's violin concerto The Dreamer. Earth Works: A Percussive Masterpiece Colin Currie, a virtuosic percussionist, delivered a stunning performance of Earth Works, weaving a complex, glitchy texture of cymbal and drum sounds. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales, under the direction of Kevin John Edusei, provided a rich orchestral backdrop, looping melodic cells and exposing layers of flutter-tongued brass and delicate strings. The Dreamer: A Violin Concerto The world premiere of Freya Waley-Cohen's The Dreamer, a concerto composed for her sister Tamsin Waley-Cohen, showcased the violinist's technical prowess and emotional depth. The concerto opened with folksy double-stops, soaring rhapsodic passages, and moments of simplicity that stood out amidst the virtuosity. Other Notable Performances The Sacconi Quartet performed Freya Waley-Cohen's Dances, Songs and Hymns for Friendship, exploring the interplay of four musical voices. The Sansara choir presented the world premiere of Alex Ho and Rockey Sun Keting's Chronicle, a meditative a cappella song-cycle about six female Chinese poets. Festival Highlights and Future Broadcasts The Aldeburgh festival continues until 28 June. A broadcast of BBCNOW's first concert is available on BBC Sounds, and their second concert will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 23 June. The staged premiere of Chronicle will take place at LSO St Luke's in London on 30 August.

The Colin Currie Group has released an album of Steve Reich's works, The Sextets, to celebrate the composer's 90th birthday and the group's 20th anniversary. Formed to honor Reich's 70th birthday with a performance of Drumming, the group has now released its fourth Reich album on Currie's own label.The Sextets, from 1985, features two keyboardists playing piano and synthesizers alongside four percussionists on various instruments. The recording, led by Colin Currie, showcases subtle nuances with a naturalistic sound that is less closely mic'd than Reich's own classic accounts.The album also includes Six Marimbas, a rescoring of 1973's Six Pianos, and The Double Sextet, composed in 2007, which features instrumentalists performing against a recording of themselves. Dance Patterns, written for choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, rounds out the album.Currie's relaxed approach to the music results in a chilled and enjoyable interpretation, with Six Marimbas clocking in at 22 minutes, compared to Reich's 16-minute version.