Roger May

In a year that sees the NSC pushing through major new ideas on the new music front, Roger May has just been appointed as the Choir's first composer-in-residence.

Roger May

Roger, who won the Choir's 2006 Composition Competition with Introduction & Riffs, and whose Simon's Mangrove Groove features in current repertoire, will produce three works for the NSC over the next 12-18 months. His first assignment is to write a short but epic piece for solo baritone and Choir inspired by the Colosseum in Rome, one of seven movements featuring a different member of the sax family and each written by a different composer, of an ambitious new music project, 7 Wonders. (More news on this shortly.)

NSC Musical Director Nigel Wood believes that Roger's appointment will make a substantial contribution to generating more exciting and challenging sax choir repertoire, one of the Choir's core objectives. "This is a hugely exciting new development for us," he explained. "Roger writes brilliantly for the saxophone and has a thorough understanding of our repertoire needs. The Choir already knows and respects Roger's work and we're all absolutely delighted to be working with him."

Read more about Roger and Introduction & Riffs