Onyx30: A commitment to new music

John Armitage Memorial Trust (JAM) will this month present its annual Music of Our Time concert, launching the 2023 season ahead of the arts organisation’s 10^th anniversary festival, JAM on the Marsh. On 21 March London’s St Bride’s Church will resound with an exciting programme of new music performed by the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge, and organist Simon Hogan, conducted by Michael Bawtree. The evening will present six premieres, including commissions from British composer Daniel Saleeb, JAM President’s Commission winner Tara Creme, and five successful submissions to JAM’s annual Call for Music.

Onyx Brass will also give the premiere of a new work created for the ensemble by British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage CBE. A co-commission from Onyx brass and JAM, Onyx30 is written in celebration of the brass quintet’s 30-year anniversary. I talked to the ensemble and to JAM founder and chairman Ed Armitage to learn about the process behind this new work.

Both Onyx Brass and JAM have been keen to commission composer Mark-Anthony Turnage (pictured) for years ©James Bellorini

Could you tell our readers a bit more about the co-commissioning process and what that involved?

Onyx Brass: The origins of this piece date back a good 20 years to a few weeks that we spent playing Mark’s orchestral works with the BBC Symphony Orchestra as part of their “Total Immersion” series. I absolutely loved the energy of his music, and cheekily asked him if he might ever fancy writing something for brass quintet: he was charm personified but was snowed under with other commissions. Fast-forward to 2022, and with our 30^th anniversary disc in the pipeline, we decided to try again, and managed to catch him at a good moment! We have a great relationship with JAM, having been involved with the organisation since its inception in 2000 so we asked if JAM fancied “going halves” on the commissioning fees. One of Onyx Brass’s guiding philosophies has always been “they can always say no, so you might as well ask”, and we were delighted and grateful that the Trust agreed to step in.

Ed Armitage: Mark-Anthony Turnage is one of the country’s most respected and influential composers, someone that JAM has been keen to commission for many years. Normally JAM commissions works for choir, brass quintet and organ, so we had to satisfy ourselves that commissioning solely for a brass quintet was the correct thing to do and this was the biggest step for us. However, because of our relationship with Onyx and Turnage’s reputation, we were delighted to co-commission it.

Onyx has been involved with JAM for over 20 years – what do you think contributes to a good relationship between organisation and artist?

Onyx Brass: It is a question of honesty, open-mindedness and a mutual faith in each other’s sincerity of intention. We have great trust in each other: from JAM’s perspective they can rely on our commitment to the cause of new music, our professionalism and enthusiasm, and the fact that we promise to play as quietly as we can when accompanying choirs! From our perspective, we have such admiration for JAM’s incredible tenacity, the fact that new works get played more than once, and the simply brilliant work that it has done in making Kent’s Romney Marsh, where the JAM on the Marsh festival takes place, such an amazingly multi-disciplined cultural destination, with education at its heart.

What can audiences expect from the upcoming premiere?

Onyx Brass: We have always believed in allowing composers completely free rein in what they write for us. Audiences can expect a major four-part work, with characteristically inventive and idiomatic writing for brass. Two rhythmic and complex fanfares are broken up with two chorale-like movements, showing Mark’s amazing command of soulful, occasionally blues-inflected harmony, even when there are only 5 voices to play with!

This work is being premiered alongside works by emerging composers – how does Onyx work to nurture the next generation of artists and composers and what does this work mean to you?

Onyx Brass: We have always been utterly committed to new music (we’ve given well over 200 premieres and counting!), and love to work with those who are starting out on their compositional journey, whatever their age. The brass quintet is a relatively “young” format for chamber music, and its survival is, we think, predicated on creating a serious body of work for future generations. Having direct contact is vital, both to create new work for us to play, but also to help ensure that works are written in a way that is physically possible, thus ensuring repeat performances! Apart from JAM we have worked with student composers all over the UK, including the junior departments of the RCM, GSMD etc and are currently leading a 3-month composition workshop at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, just as a few examples.

Ed Armitage: JAM’s Call for Music has been at the very heart of the organisation since the beginning. Our whole aim is to support emerging composers. Not only do we perform these new works to an audience hungry for new music, but we always record them too, thus giving the composers a resource with which to promote their work, often leading to further performances with different groups and sometimes to publishing deals for the composers. Over the years these opportunities have enabled composers including Paul Mealor, Hannah Kendall, Richard Peat, Jack Oades and Daniel Saleeb to develop their careers.

During our upcoming concert, we will also announce JAM’s re-designed Masterclass series for composers.

For some composers, these initiatives give them their first opportunity to hear their music performed live. What advice would you give to composers looking to build on this and nurture fruitful relationships with performers such as yourselves?

Onyx Brass: Be receptive to comments about idiom and physical playability: we would never want to cramp anyone’s artistic voice, and we are very prepared to be challenged, but there are certain ways in which the stamina demands of brass are higher than any other family of instruments, and there does occasionally need to be a degree of pragmatism. Similarly, due to the ongoing (and ever-increasing) funding challenges for the arts in the UK, rehearsal time is limited: therefore, the more detailed information you can give the performers about what you want, (in terms of tempo, articulation, style, intention, dynamic etc.), the more likely it we are to be able to achieve your intentions!