East Midlands Book Award

Gavin Bryars will be the Celebrity Judge for the 2011 East Midlands Book Award in  May 2012 for the best book of 2011, and will chair the panel of judges. The award is an independent, annual award, which is being first awarded in June 2011 (for books written in 2010), to the best writer of fiction, creative non-fiction, or poetry. The aim is to promote writers who live in the East Midlands, to raise the profile of what is a thriving literary scene in the region, and to reward exceptional work. The trustees of the award are David Belbin, Ross Bradshaw, John Lucas and Jane Streeter, each acting in an individual capacity. This independent book award is administered by Writing East Midlands. 

Gavin was first contacted by the writer John Lucas who he had met at a performance of From Egil's Saga at Southwell Minster in 2004 - John Lucas has translated the poems of Egil's Saga. It transpired that John had also been the tutor of Gavin's friend and collaborator Blake Morrison when Blake was at Nottingham University.

http://www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk/awards/

GB Ensemble at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival

For this ensemble concert which opens the Vale of Glamorgan Festival, I an writing a new work for the smaller version of my ensemble - singers Anna-Maria Friman and John Potter, plus electric guitar, viola, cello and double bass. This new work will start the concert and in the first part there will be a collection of laude. In part two we perform my ensemble version oif The Sinking of the Titanic.

Programme:

New Work (2012) soprano, tenor, ensemble

Lauda 13 "Stomme allegro" (2003) soprano, tenor, ensemble

Lauda 19 "Omne homo" (2004) soprano, tenor, ensemble

Lauda 41 "De la crudel morte de Cristo" (2011) soprano, tenor, ensemble

It Never Rains (2010) - electric guitar, viola, cello, bass

Lauda 4 "Oi me lasso" (2002) soprano, tenor

Lauda 28 "Amor dolçe sença pare" (2004) soprano, tenor, ensemble

- interval -

The Sinking of the Titanic (1969-)

Anna Maria Friman, soprano; John Potter, tenor;

Nick Barr, Morgan Goff, violas; Nick Cooper, cello; Gavin Bryars, double bass; James Woodrow, electric guitar; Dave Smith, tenor horn/keyboard; Roger Heaton, bass clarinet; Martin Allen, percussion; Bob Burnell, sound.

Titanic (Forma)

The first in a series of performances in the centenary year of the actual sinking, with GB Ensemble, Philip Jeck, Gavin Bryars' four children, projections by Bill Morrison and Laurie Olinder - one of a number of performance organised by Forma.

Orchestral Concert

A performance of The Sinking of the Titanic by the Victoria Symphony Orchestra - in the version made for Aventa - directed by VSO Music Director Tania Miller. She also conducts the strings of the orchestra in The Porazzi Fragment, for 21 solo strings.