Hear and Now: Composer Focus: Richard Ayres

City Halls
Glasgow
Scotland

Greg Lawson violin*
Fraser Fifield pipes*
Catriona Mckay harp*
Saar Berger horn**
Ilan Volkov conductor
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Welcome to the world of Richard Ayres. Described as "zany and anarchic", his is an energetic,
layered, and often wildly humorous musical universe. This concert features one of his infamous
NONcertos where the soloist is an "outcast" often called upon to perform impossible musical
feats. Saar Berger, horn player with the Ensemble Modern, should rise (or fall) to the
challenge beautifully.
The other composers in the concert are no less interesting. Serbian-German composer Marko
Nikodijevic draws upon on the diverse worlds of the drug-fuelled techno music scene and
Serbian folk songs for GHB /tanzaggregat, while English minimalist Laurence Crane has been
dubbed "irresistibly droll" by Gramophone magazine.
This concert is also the closing event of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's PLUG festival

Richard Ayres : No.9 MacGOWAN
Richard Ayres : No.36 (2002) NONcerto for horn
Marko Nikodijevic : GHB/tanzaggregat
Laurence Crane : West Sussex Folk Material