Glenn Van Looy has released his new CD, Move Their Mind, and has included my work Elegie. It’s a great CD from a fantastic young player, and the performance of Elegie is very moving.

Visit his website for further details:

http://www.glennvanlooy.be/

I was producing a recording last week in London which featured the combined Guards brass band (a brass band made up from players in the Coldstream, Grenadier, Irish, Scots and Welsh Guards bands) and soloist Roger Webster.

Roger recorded my Manchester Concertino – a work which is dedicated to him (each movement is dedicated to a different player).

The recording is scheduled for released in January 2012, and all proceeds will be going to http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk - who support soldiers and their families who are wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For more information about the CD, and how you can contribute to this H4H project, please head to http://www.rogerwebster.co.uk/

My good friend,Les Neish has released his new CD, which features two of my pieces (both premiere recordings) – Floating Dreams, and the title track Shine.

Les commissioned Shine as a follow up to the first concerto I wrote for him, Episodes and Echoes. The CD sounds fantastic, and I recommend it to anyone – lots of brilliant playing to admire!

You can find out more about the CD, and also order it, at the following link:

http://www.tuba-artist.com/shop/news.php?article=69

I’m also going to include a Liverpool FC graphic here; Les is obviously a hugely talented tuba player, musician and general all round good guy, but he clearly knows a lot about football, as he is a supporter of the world’s greatest team too!

I have been lucky enough to receive 7 premiere performances recently, on 4 different continents!

In May, the Fountain City Brass Band, conducted by Joe Parisi, gave the world premiere of a new work for brass band, called 2nd Epitaph – Across the Water. This second epitaph (the first was written to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough stadium disaster) was written for performance  at The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France. The title has a double meaning – firstly the body of water the troops crossed on D-day, and secondly it represents what separates me and the band’s home country – the Atlantic Ocean.

The wind band scoring of this piece was premiered earlier this month (July 2011) in Beijing  by the Dunshan Symphonic Wind Orchestra (conducted by Adrian Schneider) – who, in the same concert, also gave the premiere of The Legend of King Arthur in its wind band scoring.

Woolston Brass Band approached me earlier in the year and asked if I would be interested in writing a new work for the band, that would serve as a memory for those lost in the February 2011 earthquake (181 people).  Being asked to write this work in their memory was an honour, but I didn’t want it to simply be performed as a memorial. I wanted to compose a work that conveyed the sadness and grief for those lost – a work of remembrance – but also a piece of music that represented peace, hope and strength.

The title and dedication come direct from the commissioners of the work, Woolston Brass Band. The pohutukawa trees stay standing and secure, defiant of the earthquake, in Christchurch’s Garden City, and the pohutukawa tree also has a special significance beyond its physical appearance.

According to Maori mythology, the spirits of the dead travel to Cape Reinga on their journey to the afterlife to leap off the headland and climb the roots of the 800 year old Pohutukawa Tree and descend to the underworld to return to their traditional homeland of Hawaiiki-a-nui, using the Ta Ara Wairua, the spirits pathway.

The Pohutukawa Stands is dedicated to the lives lost in the Christchurch earthquake.

Woolston Brass Band performed the work at the New Zealand National Brass Band Championships as part of their program of four works throughout the contest weekend, and am delighted that they won the contest – congratulations!!

In Memory (FM) is a new work for brass quintet commissioned by Jens Lindemann for the All Stars Brass quintet (a quintet featuring some of the finest brass players on the planet, including Jens Lindemann, Pat Sheridan, Martin Hackleman, Ryan Anthony and Keith Dyrda) who will give the first performance at the Banff Summer Arts Festivals. It is a short work written on the 20th anniversary of Freddie Mercury’s death, and uses small snippets of Queen songs as the musical material for the piece.

The final two premieres happened a bit closer to home – here in the UK. The Leyland Band gave the UK premiere of The Legend of King Arthur at the English National Brass Band contest in Preston, and David Thornton gave the first performance of JET A, a new work for euphonium and CD accompaniment, at Regents Hall, London, at the start of July. JET A was commissioned by Robert Benton who will feature the work on his next CD release.

From Winds magazine:

Recorded in both the UK and USA this release is the first commercial recording dedicated to the music of Nuneaton born composer Peter Meechan, though he is nowfirmly established in Manchester writing extensively for brass and wind bands on a worldwide basis.

The opening title track, Apophenia, is athree movement trumpet tour de force delivered with style by an amazing Rex Richardson. I wonder how many players could handle this virtuoso work but at least on record that is not of concern.

I particularly enjoyed the Epitaph (for Hillsborough) which is a most touching elegy finishing as it does resplendent in ‘Eric Whitacre rain’, funereal bells and silence. The composer’s locale provides the impetus for Chorlton Suite – I never realised this area was the jazz centre of Manchester but here it is! I was fondly reminded of Malcolm Arnold though the dance is now that of a new generation bathed in John Adams’s developed minimalist style. The elegies of the second movement of Apophenia and the Hillsborough Epitaph are repeated quasi Bernard Herrmann (of Taxi Driver) and Jerry Goldsmith (of Chinatown) yet still maintaining an individual personality and yet more bells, a Meechan touch. The rhythmically alert and searching minimalist finale provides an apt conclusion never feeling contrived – great fun!

Fields of Destruction is a serious contribution eloquently played by David Thornton, rather intense and poetic in the first part finding a sense of purpose over a single persistent statement. The lyrical nature is paramount but with an ‘edge’. Macbeth is a transcription of an earlier brass band work and much more colourfulin its new dress. The fingerprint of jazz is present in a pulsating, open and in your face manner. However, we have the clarinet, for example, (not possible in a brass band) to lend a lyrical quality to this dramatic tone poem. The slow central episode is beautifully searching, unfolding as it does in measured layers with poetic precision. If cinematic in its gestures it has integrity and poise suited to concert music. The gentle Bach infused suspensions eventually reveal a funereal climax of a ‘Scotsman in Hollywood’ nature!

The album closes with Elegie, a delicately scored solo for trombone performed by Becky Smith, continuing the fine line up of soloists in another of Meechan’s touching threnodies whose searching strands he continues to mine. The concluding few minutes do provide a change of mood to a (again jazz influenced) dance segment though still laden with pathos from which it can’t ultimately surrender its soul.

Kew Wind Orchestra play with great dedication under the solid direction of Spencer Down. The notes by Dr Stephen Arthur Allen make interesting and detailed reading and there are also full soloist biographies and band personnel information. Produced by the composer this enterprising recording deserves support and band directors will find much of interest and relevance for their future programmes within its content.

Martin Ellerby

Amazing trumpeter, Jose Sibaja, has recorded …a night devoid of stars and Three London Places on his new CD, Inner Voice. What a player Jose is – head to his site (www.josesibaja.com) to find out more about him and the CD, or simply head to iTunes and buy it there. It is stunning playing.

I have to tell you, I am pretty much the luckiest composer on earth; in the last few months I have been lucky to have recordings released by some of the most amazing trumpeters on the planet!

Jens Lindemann has recorded my trumpet concerto, Apophenia, with the Fodens Band conducted by James Gourlay.

The whole CD is a fantastic recording, and features some truly ridiculous playing of the highest order. The CD was launched at The Bridgewater Hall last Sunday (6th May), where he featured as a guest soloist with the Fodens Band, performing some tracks from the disc, including the 2nd and 3rd movements of Apophenia. I think it’s fair to say the audience loved his playing!!!

The CD can be purchased from http://www.worldofbrass.com/acatalog/21635.html

British Bandsman Issue no. 5663 – 30 April 2011

CD Review – Apophenia The Wind Band Music of Peter Meechan

In his expansive programme notes to this engaging release of music for brass and wind by Peter Meechan, Stephen Arthur Allen offers the view that the DNA of this composer’s voice ‘resides in his slow music’. In response, the composer has confessed to finding slow music very hard to write. Perhaps it is the element of struggle that produces such a powerful, yet understated impression when Dr. Meechan slows the pace down – that allied to some stunning performances from three brass artists on top form.

The music here spans five years from 2004 to ‘09 and includes two major works first heard in brass band versions, the dramatic interpretation of Macbeth and the visceral Trumpet Concerto Apophenia (literally – seeing patterns where none exist). Rex Richardson, for whom Apophenia was written, really ‘gets’ the driving energy of the opening movement. The spare, still centre of the concerto, with its suggestions of the blues, draws the listener in, while the sheer virtuosity of the uncomplicated finale takes your breath away. It will be fascinating to compare this performance with that of Jens Lindemann with Foden’s, to be released shortly from World of Brass.

David Thornton’s contribution, in total contrast, is a model of restraint. Dr. Meechan pares his music down to its Stravinskian essentials in the three Fields of Destruction, which is a musical plea for justice in a world plagued by political double standards. The ‘fields’ of the title are the poppy fields of Afghanistan. In just 125 bars, Meechan makes a powerful musical statement – bleak, yet not without hope and utterly compelling.

Equally powerful in its vision, symbolism and economy is Epitaph (for Hillsborough), for me the creative highlight of this release, while Becky Smith creates a haunting impression in the final track Elegie – beautifully realised. Macbeth takes on added dimensions of colour and expressivity in this wind orchestra version, and the lighter Chorlton Suite emphasises what a fine band the Kew Wind Orchestra under Spencer Down is. It is one of the finest amateur wind bands in the country, with a full rich sound.

The release is well recorded by KMJ Recordings and having the composer as producer adds an additional authenticity to the performances.

Paul Hindmarsh

Jens Lindemann will be giving the first performances of my trumpet concerto, Apophenia, with symphony orchestra, when he performs with Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in two concerts later in the year.

The two performances will be conducted by ESO’s Musical Director, William Eddins.

More details can be found on the orchestra’s website:

http://www.edmontonsymphony.com/friday-masters/2011-12-friday-masters/jens-lindemann-at-the-masters/

Two large scale solo works will feature at Cardiff New Brass Festival/ this year. David Thornton will be performing Requiem Paraphrases and Dean Wright, Principal Trumpet of Welsh National Opera, will be playing Apophenia.

More details:

http://www.cardiffnewbrassfestival.co.uk/
http://tdavoren.weebly.com/blog-news–events.html

At the end of March, saxophonist Tim Watson premiered my new work for alto and band, Fenix Blue. The piece was performed by Tim, accompanied by Lambeth Wind Orchestra (conducted by John Holland) at the BASBWE festival in London.

Here’s a recording of the premiere, and also the programme note…

At the RNCM yesterday 100′s of young people performed in the National Youth Brass Band Championships, and what an amazing – inspiring – day it was. The set test piece for the Intermediate section was Sentinel, which I was commissioned to write especially for the event. 14 performances later (it was around 6 minutes of a program of 20 minutes) the results were announced, and  Wardle High School Band (conducted by Lee Rigg) were the deserved winners.

Congratulations to all the bands involved for 14 great performances!

Apophenia is the first volume of my music for wind band. Performed by Kew Wind Orchestra (conducted by Spencer Down), it also features American trumpet star Rex Richardson, Bones Apart trombonist Becky Smith and euphonium virtuoso David Thornton.

The CD was recorded last May by Keith Johnson and KMJ Recordings in Richmond, London, UK and was produced by myself. It was released on March 27 this year at the BASBWE London Festival 2011.

The full track list is:

Apophenia (concerto for trumpet)
Epitaph (for Hillsborough)
Chorlton Suite
Fields of Destruction (three songs for euphonium and band)
Macbeth
Elegie

All of the works recorded on the CD are available from Peter Meechan Music

£12 including postage and packaging

Here is Brass Band Burgermusik Luzern’s performance of The Legend of King Arthur, conducted by Michael Bach.

The file is around 30mb, so it may take a little time to load.

Foden’s have announced the appointment of Dr. Peter Meechan as their new Musical Associate.

Increasing profile

The former Black Dyke ‘Young Composer in Residence’ has enjoyed an increasing profile in both the brass and wind band spheres in recent years and is currently in the USA where he is teaching and lecturing in Des Moines, Kansas City and Chicago.

Foden’s approached the composer with the specific role of arranging music for the band’s busy concert schedule and will see him join Foden’s ‘creative stable’ alongside composer in residence Andy Scott.

Exceptional

Andy told 4BR: “Pete is an exceptional musician and with this appointment Foden’s takes a further step into the creative world, displaying a commitment to new repertoire. I’m delighted that he is to become part of the Foden’s team and look forward to working with him.”

Band Chairman, John Barber added: “We are very pleased that Peter has accepted our invitation and we are looking forward to a long working relationship with him.”

USA

4BR caught up with the composer in the USA, where he is currently in the middle of a three week tour of major universities and educational establishments working with leading American composers and bands.

“‘I’m absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity of working with Foden’s and Andy Scott,” he said. “It’s now ten years since Foden’s premiered my first major work for brass band, so it is even more special that our new association will commence with a performance by Fodens, conducted by James Gourlay, at the 2011 Festival of Brass.”

Acclaim

The news comes at the end of a busy period for the composer, which has seen him work on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Last weekend he was in Switzerland where his new work, ‘The Legend of King Arthur’ was used by Brass Band Burgermusik Luzern at the Swiss National Championships to critical and popular acclaim.

Great response

“I’ve had a great response to the piece,” he told 4BR. “It really struck a chord in Montreux with listeners and I was blown over by the response after the band played. I’m really enjoying myself at the moment, despite the travelling, and have plenty of new projects to get stuck into over the next few months, including the premiere of a new percussion concerto for Mark Langdon of Foden’s.”

Okay – so I have been pretty slack at keeping this up to date. It may be for many reasons, but I would have thought that the main reason would have been a football induced depression after the terrible start to the season for Liverpool FC…it hasn’t gotten too much better as the season has gone on, so have pulled myself out of the dirt to write here!

As I write, I am in Kansas City watching New England Patriots @ Chicago in the NFL – I follow the NFL, and am a glory hunting Pats fan, but my more immediate concern is the state of the weather in Chicago – where it seems as though there is a constant blizzard – seeing as I am heading there tomorrow for the Midwest Clinic. It was -22c here in KC last night, and there was plenty of snow, so I guess it was good training!

I have also had some exciting news about a new position – but that is deserving of a separate post!

So I’ll catch up in two parts…October to November (see post below) and then late November to December below this!

The end of November up until today has been a fantastic few weeks – I have been away from home for three weeks, and with one week to go in Chicago, I am looking forward to getting back now.

It started in Switzerland, where my time was split between Lucerne and Montreux – two of the most amazing places you could ever wish to visit. I was out there with Brass Band Burgermusik Luzern and their conductor, Michael Bach. Michael and the band commissioned me to write an own choice selection for their national finals – it was a pleasure to work with such an amazing band, and a conductor who is one of the most talented musicians I have ever met. Unfortunately, their performance of the piece – The Legend of King Arthur – didn’t find favour with the judges, and they came second – but I truly believe that they are one of the best bands I have had the pleasure of working with and also the nicest band I have ever worked with. Their performance was simply one of the most musical and one of the most incredible experiences I have had as a composer.

A fun night out was had following the contest with some of the other Brits (who were very well represented in Montreux), and it soon became apparent that drinking with 4barsrest.com editor, Iwan Fox, was a bad idea – I managed to miss my train to Geneva airport, although by luck I managed to get a later train to Geneva and a taxi to the airport. Before I left, we did a quick interview, which took a total of 14 takes, but we got there in the end! If you want to have a listen, the interview can be found here and the contest coverage here.

So, I made it to Geneva for a pretty rough night at the airport, followed by a rough day flying to Des Moines, Iowa, via Heathrow and Chicago. I spent a great week out in Des Moines with Randy Hoepker, Steve Day and the Hoover High School Band. They have a great set up there, and I had the chance to work with the band and the wind ensemble on Eternal Light, Hymn for Africa and Purcell Variants. I also discovered that the USA has some very fine beer. Not that I drank too much of it…

So a 3.5 hour coach trip lay ahead in order to get to Kansas City – and it was made all the more pleasant by a friendly coach driver called Joe (who is one of only 3 million people over here to be fascinated by my “cool” accent!) – although one of the other passengers, who had perhaps had one or two ales too many, decided to get to know the rest of the coach…I was fine with this until he spoke to me, asked me my name and what I was up to…so out of politeness, I asked him his name, to which he (quite scarily) responded “my friends call me animal”. I like to think that I do my best to treat all people well, but in animal’s case, I went out of my way to be nice to him. Not too sure I want to get on the wrong side of someone with that name!

I was greeted at Kansas City by an college friend from the RNCM, Helen Tyler. I have to admit is was nice to hear a proper, northern, English accent – and as I did, all memories of Animal disappeared. Helen and her partner Lee Harrelson were kind enough to put me up for the week and also set up visits to some of the many good schools around KC. KU, UMKC and MWSU all welcomed me and played through some music, gave a couple of clinics/talks, and get a real feel for KC – and what a great city it is! Special thanks to Joe Parisi, Jeff Linton, Scott Watson and Paul Popiel for their kind welcome and hospitality.

My host, Lee, has a real passion for brass bands and 8 years ago set up Fountain City Brass Band. Along with Helen, he has created a fine, fine musical ensemble and a great youth set up, which serves the community – it really works as a genuine relationship, from which everyone benefits. You can only wonder what good could be done in the UK if more bands had the attitude of FCBB, Lee and Helen.

I got to hear this wonderful band, and whilst the 1st half was fun, the 2nd half featured Lee’s arrangements of the Stan Kenton Christmas music – great fun, great arranging, great playing! Check out FCBB when they head to the UK again in the Spring.

And so tomorrow is off to Chicago for the Midwest Clinic…am not looking forward to the flight, but am looking forward to catching up with many American friends, as well as some of my British friends who I haven’t seen since, well, Switzerland – which at this moment, feels like a life time ago!

So plenty happened during these two months, not least the premiere of Manchester Concertino by Belgian cornetist, Harmen Vanhoorne in Leuven, Belgium. Harmen asked me some time ago to write him a piece, and at the same time a commission came in for a slow melody for cornet and band for Cornish cornetist, Jess Tredea. So it only seemed sensible to write a concertino, and write the final movement for my friend, and for me the finest cornet player I have ever heard, Roger Webster.

Harmen gave the World Premiere, but he was also in the audience when Roger Webster gave the UK premiere with Enfield Citadel Band, conducted by an old college friend, Jon Corry. It was a fantastic performance, and to my knowledge the first time a Salvation Army band performed a piece of mine.

There is also exciting news about a recording of the piece, but more on that in the next few weeks.

The day after Roger’s performance saw Lesley Howie perform a work for tenor horn and band of mine called Tryptich (on a theme by Handel). She was absolutely increadible (as she always is), although one slightly grumpy audience member wrote in to 4barsrest.com to complain that he couldn’t hear her – such a shame he didn’t as it was playing of the very highest standard, and pretty much everyone else in the Royal Albet Hall agreed!

The weekend also saw the release of Brett Baker’s new CD, which features Scene from the Silver Plate – which he plays great. The whole CD is a great listen – and features a wide range of works, including a piece by Welsh composer Tom Davoren which will no doubt be played a lot.

The end of October also saw a performance of The Karman Line at the RNCM/BASBWE Festival, conducted by Clark Rundell. It was a highly successful weekend, and those of us on the BASBWE Executive Committee are excited about next year’s plans – again, there will be more on this later.

I also finished a new work, called Fenix Blue, for alto saxophone and wind ensemble – I had a lot of fun writing this for Tim Watson, who commissioned the work and is busy doing a great job and commissioning many new works for sax, who has also recorded a couple of other pieces of mine for his upcoming solo release.

Blues music features heavily throughout the piece, but it was pretty much completed as the Chilean miners were being brought to the surface in the Fenix 2 capsule – so it only seemed fitting to acknowledge the work of the rescuers.

Other works completed include a new piece called JET A for euphonium and CD for American euphoniumist, Robert Benton. Lots of fun writing this – which essentially tries to describe a sky dive in music. Not having ever complete a sky dive, or even attempted one, I had to take Robert’s word for what the experience really is like…I have a funny feeling I won’t be finding out for myself any time soon!

Sentinel is a new work for brass band and is the set test for the Intermediate section at the 2011 National Youth Brass Band Championships held at the Royal Northern College of Music.

It is available for purchase from www.petermeechanmusic.co.uk and there is a blog post, which includes an mp3 MIDI realisation of the piece at the following URL: http://www.petemeechan.com/blog/sentinel-and-manchester-concertino

Well, this is my first blog post on my new site, so I figure I should use it to tell you what I have been doing recently.

I have finished a couple of pieces in the last few days; Manchester Concertino is a small (10 minute) work for cornet and band in 3 movements. Each movement has a different dedicatee (more on this in my next post), and the work will be premièred by Harmen Vanhoorne later this month in Belgium. I’ll post a copy of the solo part up here in the next few days…

Sentinel has been written for the 2011 National Youth Brass Band Championships of Great Britain – it turns out that writing music of an easier level is pretty tough! For those who would like a listen, there is a MIDI realisation here: Sentinel (right click, save as…)

Again, I will post more about the piece, including a sample score, in a few days. It is available for purchase from www.petermeechanmusic.co.uk

A new CD by international euphonium soloist Dave Childs has been released an features Sparta – a work of mine that is a concert version of my euphonium concerto, Three Stories – Three Worlds.

Dave is accompanied by Cory Band who are conducted by his father, Bob Childs.

For more information, please click here to go to World of Brass.

I was recently interviewed by Chris Thomas, from 4barsrest.com, about composing, my time at Black Dyke Band, writing for Rex Richardson and Les Neish and more…

Check it out at this link:

http://4barsrest.com/articles/2010/1163.asp

Brass Band Willebroek conducted by Frans Violet plays Lament from Peter Meechan. Recorded on May 19 2010.

Jens Lindemann has performed my trumpet concerto, Apophenia, at the International Trumpet Guild, held in Sydney, Australia.

Accompanied by St Mary’s Band Club band, conducted by Paul Terracini, the concert took place at the wonderful City Recital Hall and was given an enthusiastic response form the audience – mainly made up of other trumpeters at the conference.

I was lucky enough to be able to head to Sydney to attend the performance thanks to a British Council Composers Scheme bursary, and the generous lending of a room from my old college friend, and euphonium soloist Matthew van Emmerik.

A new recording of Apex has just been released. Performed by Dik van Doorn (flugel) and Brass Band Rijnmond (under the direction of Anno Appelo), it is a live recording from their joint concert with Amsterdam Staff Band earlier in 2010.

Click here for more details at www.worldofbrass.com

It has been announced today that I am one of the two featured composers at the Royal Northern College of Music’s Festival of Brass 2011, alongside Derek Bourgeois.

Further details can be found here: http://4barsrest.com/news/detail.asp?id=11813

My concerto for tuba, Episodes and Echoes, has been awarded The 2010 Harvey G. Phillips Awards for Excellence in Composition Award, in the “Tuba in a Solo Role” category.

The concerto was written for Les Neish, and has recently been recorded and released on Les’ award winning CD Salt of the Earth.

I also had works featured on two CD’s that were nominated for 2010 ITEA Roger Bobo Awards. Elegie, performed by Steven Mead and Spanish Brass, was on the CD Brass and Wines – nominated in the “Ensemble” catagory; and Fields of Destruction, commissioned and recorded by Pat Stuckemeyer, was featured on Pat’s CD, Footprints, which was nominated in the “Solo Euphonium” category.

I was also lucky enough for three works to be featured at the conference:

James Gourlay performed Floating Dreams, Jason Ham performed Requiem Paraphrases with the UCLA Brass Choir, conducted by Pat Sheridan, and Dave Thornton performed Elegie with The Flatirons Brass Quintet.

The International Euphonium and Tuba Conference (ITEC) is currently taking place in Tucson Arizona, and three of my pieces will be featured.

James Gourlay will be performing Floating Dreams, Jason Ham will be performing Requiem Paraphrases with the UCLA Brass Choir, conducted by Pat Sheridan, and Dave Thornton will be performing Elegie with The Flatirons Brass Quintet.

The website is currently being updated…please be patient as the content is updated.

The old website is still available for the time being at this link: http://petemeechan.com/temp%202010/index.php

Many thanks

Pete

I have been commissioned by the National Youth Brass Band Championships of Great Britain to write a new work as the Intermediate section set test for the 2011 championships, held at the Royal Northern College of Music in April 2011.

The title of the new work is Sentinel, and will be published by www.petermeechanmusic.co.uk, and available from September 1st 2010.

Last weekend (14-16 May 2010), Kew Wind Orchestra, conducted by Spencer Down come together with Becky Smith (trombone), euphoniumist David Thornton and trumpet virtuoso Rex Richardson to record a CD of my wind band music.

Keith Johnson of KMJ Recordings engineered the weekend’s session, with me by his side producing.

The featured tracks are: Apophenia, Chorlton Suite, Elegie, Epitaph, Fields of Destruction and Macbeth

Some great photos of the weekend can be found here

Koninklijke Harmonie ste Cecilia Zele, conducted by Bart Picqueur will perform Macbeth on Friday 19 Feb 2010 at there concert in Berlare, Belgium.

The concert starts at 20u30.

Link to the full article: http://4barsrest.com/articles/2010/1100.asp

4barsrest.com have put together a list of “ten composers who we feel could have a serious part to play in new band music in the next few years.”

“Of our ten X Factor composers Peter Meechan is the only one to have had a piece played at a contest challenging bands at the highest level. His ‘Macbeth’ made a strong impression when it was used at the Scottish Open in 2007 whilst his Trumpet Concerto, ‘Apophenia’, played by Rex Richardson at the 2009 Festival of Brass, proved to be a complex, energetic and fascinating piece that flirted with rock, jazz and funk in an absorbing and original way. There is a strong case for ‘Macbeth’ to be heard again but listen out for his engaging ‘Purcell Variants’ which Fodens played at the Festival of Brass. We reckon that given the chance, there could be a good deal more in store from Dr Meechan in the future.”

Dave Childs gave the first performance of Sparta on the 13th February, at the Bedworth Civic Hall, accompanied by the Cory Band and conducted by Bob Childs.

Sparta is a specially adapted version of the euphonium concerto Three Stories – Three Worlds, featuring some of the second movement and the final movement as a 7 minute solo.

Several performances of my brass music are happening over the next week.

On Saturday, the Foden’s Band will perform Purcell Variants at the RNCM Festival of Brass – click here for details. Before that performance, a new fanfare for three trumpets will be performed in the RNCM….on top of the bar!!

Belgian soprano cornet star, Bert Van Thienen will perform These Mist Covered Mountains when he is guest soloist with Brassband Hombeek.See here for details.

Jason Ham, accompanied by the West Point Band, has recorded Requiem Paraphrases, in a new version for solo euphonium and wind band, specially transcribed for Jason.It has recently been released on CD, and is available from here where you can download it free of charge, too!

John Robert Brown has written an article for the BASBWE magazine, Winds, that features an interview with myself. You can read it online at John’s website by clicking here.

Les Neish’s debut solo release, Salt of the Earth – which features my concerto for tuba (Episodes and Echoes) has won two major prizes.

The recording has been voted Solo CD of the Year by both the British Bandsman, and Brass Band World.It is a truly remarkable CD, and my congratulation go out to Les! Click here to visit Les’s website.

A performance of Elegie (featuring Jacques Mauger & Strombor Brass Quintet), recorded at Eglise d’Yerville, September 2008, has been uploaded to youtube. Please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvYeCCxj0Cw

Peabody Wind Ensemble, directed by Harlan D. Parker, will be performing Bang 2 in their 9 December concert. The full details can be found here: http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/560

The Rutgers Euphonium Ensemble will be performing “Break It Down” on Friday 20th November.They will perform the work, which was originally written for trombone 4tet but works equally well for euphoniums, in the Share Auditiorium as part of the 2009 Chamber Competition

Three works will be given World Premiere’s tomorrow at the BASBWE/RNCM Festival.

Manchester University Wind Orchestra will premiere Fields of Destruction in the morning, featuring Mark Bousie as the euphonium soloist. And in the afternoon Kew Wind Orchestra will give the world premieres of two works: The Karman Line and Epitaph. The festival is free all weekend.

More details available at www.rncm.ac.uk

Episodes and Echoes, which was commissioned and dedicated to Les Neish, has been released on Les’ new CD, Salt of the Earth.

Click here to visit Les’s website.

Swiss Euphoniumist Tom Ruedi will be giving three performances of my extended works for euphonium in October.

Fields of Destruction, for solo euphonium and wind ensemble, will receive its world premiere at the BASBWE/RNCM Festival in October.

Manchester University Wind Orchestra, conducted by BASBWE Chairman Phil Robinson, will accompany euphonium soloist Mark Bousie.

More details of other premieres and performances at the festival will appear on here soon!

Today (26 September), the RNCM Wind Orchestra, conducted by Clark Rundell, recorded my new work The Karman Line.

Episodes and Echoes, my concerto for tuba, has received its premiere recording, by my great friend (And fellow Liverpool supporter!), Les Neish.

Les commissioned the concerto, and gave it its premiere back in 2005. He has performed it on numerous occasions with both brass and wind band accompaniments. The cadenza was originally written with Les, but left open for the soloist to experiment with – and Les has taken it to a new level!

Click here to visit Les’s website.

Brass Band Willebroek’s performance of “Lament from Macbeth” has been released on DVD. It was recorded at the farewell concert of the 2009 European Brass Band Championships.

More details can be found by clicking here.

September sees the publication of several new titles.

Elegie (Euph or trombone solo) and Fields of Destruction (Song cycle for euphonium) – both with wind band – are now released, as is the piano reduction (Including optional percussion part) of Apophenia.

Chamber music to be released this month includes …a night devoid of stars (Three unaccompanied pieces for euphonium, commissioned by Aaron Tindall).

On Saturday 26th of September Brassband Willebroek will celebrate their 30th birthday in Antwerp (www.desingel.be) in front of a sold-out audience. The concert will be broadcasted on Klara (Belgian equivalent of BBC Radio 3) and BBW’s program will include Lament from Macbeth and a rendition of Innuendo where they’ll be joined by the trumpet section of the Brussels Jazz Orchestra.

American euphonium soloist Aaron Tindall commissioned a set of three unaccompanied pieces for euphonium, titled “…a night devoid of stars” and gave the world premiere at the Conservatoire National de Region in Perpignan, France on May 16. He has also recorded the set of three pieces for his debut solo recording.

The piece is now published and available from www.petermeechanmusic.co.uk