What's the Project?

Building upon their past collaborations on works for Fenella's Prism album and Clockwork Mechanisms (a piece written for Fenella and Mahan Esfahani at the Cheltenham Composers Academy), Cameron is looking forward to writing a new, multi-movement, violin sonata for Fenella.

This piece will mark a milestone in their collaborative partnership, with Fenella being one of the first to champion Cameron's music during the Covid-19 pandemic. At that point, Cameron was only discovering their sound and by the time of the Cheltenham Composers Academy they began to grow in confidence in their art.

The sonata will be a testament to their friendship and be the first commission for Fenella outside of a composer development programme.

Who is Fenella Humphreys?

Fenella Humphreys, winner of the 2023 BBC Music Magazine Premiere award & the 2018 BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Award, has won critical admiration and audience acclaim with the lyrical grace and intensity of her playing.

Described in the press as “alluring”, “unforgettable” and “a wonder”, Fenella is one of the UK’s most established and versatile violinists. She enjoys a busy career combining chamber music and solo work, performing in prestigious venues around the world. She is frequently broadcast on the BBC, Classic FM, DeutschlandRadio Berlin, West-Deutsche-Rundfunk, ABC Classic FM (Australia) and Korean radio.

Fenella performs widely as a soloist. Her first concerto recording, of Christopher Wright’s Violin Concerto with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Martin Yates (Dutton Epoch) was released in 2012 to great critical acclaim (“Fenella Humphreys’ performance is a wonder” – International Record Review), and was selected as Orchestral CD of the Month in a 5 star review in BBC Music Magazine.

Over the past decade Fenella has captured international attention by applying spellbinding virtuosity to a strikingly broad range of compositions. Her Bach 2 the Future albums, the second of which won the coveted BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Award, combined newly commissioned works with two of Bach’s solo sonatas and partitas and other repertoire landmarks. She has given the first performances of scores by, among others, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Sally Beamish, Gordon Crosse, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Adrian Sutton and Piers Hellawell, and made the world premiere recording of Christopher Wright’s elegiac Violin Concerto.

Where are you at with it?

We are currently inviting programmers and directors to get in touch with Cameron to discuss co-commissioning this work. The aim is to tour the programme along with recording the work live in concert.

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