I composed a Jazz Symphony over a 5-year period 2002-2006 for a competition called "The Masterprize" which offered a £50,000 first prize but which also seemed to go bankrupt one day after I finished composing my masterpiece.
I offered it to the Royal Academy of Music (where I studied 1978-82) for a World Premiere only to receive an 'unhelpful' response.
I have since befriended two conductors, both female and both called Collier.
They have both been trying to premier a pair of works I've written for string Orchestra.
The Collier on the French/Spanish border has been banned by her agent from performing my work for at least the last two years. No performance is currently scheduled.
The UK Collier who really likes my compositions as well has just been banned by RAM (yes, the same place I studied as per above) from performing my work with the String Orchestra.
Reason? They wish to focus on "established repertoire".
Here's a review of one of my string orchestra works that was written by another former Academy student, Mark Donlon:
"This is an impressive piece - all the threads are woven together with excellent craftsmanship in a tautly argued musical process - this would sound superb in live performance."
[extract published at the Sibelius Music website]
