Sir James MacMillan launches Cumnock as centre for learning and teaching composition

MacMillan hopes that Cumnock will become a centre of excellence for composition, for teachers and composers around the world.

He said: 'It has long been an ambition of mine to take all the experience and learnings we have built over many years of teaching composition in the schools around Cumnock and East Ayrshire and make those available to teachers and students further afield.

'Teachers are under an incredible amount of pressure and for many composition is a challenging topic to tackle. We’ve seen fantastic results at both primary and secondary school levels through our work here and feel we can really help support and empower those tasked with teaching composition in our schools across the UK.

'The resources we create will not just be focused on teachers, but also support students studying composition at a higher education level or even self-taught. As part of our work to date we have mentored many emerging composers and supported some incredible talent nurtured here in Cumnock, such as Jay Capperauld and Electra Perivolaris through commissions for our festival, the Cumnock Tryst.'

Trinity College London has now commissioned a new book for music teachers and young composers from James MacMillan and Jennifer Martin to illustrate the compositional process and to support those teaching and learning composition in the upper years of secondary school. It will be launched at the Cumnock Tryst Festival in 2021.

For more information visit https://www.thecumnocktryst.com; https://www.trinitycollege.com.