TimBenjamin.com

World Premiere: Sonata for Tuba

James Longstaffe - Recording Online Now

Tuba player James Longstaffe - a graduate student at Christ Church, Oxford - gave the world premiere of the Sonata for Tuba at a concert in Christ Church Cathedral on the evening of the 24th February. The recording is available in the Works Database. Also featured in the concert were new performances of the Three Preludes and Fugue and the 4th movement from the String Quartet.

World Premiere: The Four Dragons

Oxford University Brass At Christ Church Cathedral

Tim Benjamin's work The Four Dragons: A Chinese Tale (or, How The Great Rivers Came To Be) will receive its first performance on Wednesday 25th January 2006 at 8pm, at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The performance (which will be presented alongside Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man) will be conducted by Christopher Collier, and will feature Rhydian Griffiths (trumpet). Narration will be in both English (by Saskia deGroot) and Mandarin (by Yuan Cai), and the brass ensemble has been specially formed from the Oxford University Orchestra brass sections.

Click here to see the concert poster

Update

20th February 2006

The concert was a great success, with a large and enthusiastic audience. The recording and some photographs of the event will be posted here soon.

New Work: Prelude (for solo piano)

Commissioned by Berenika Zakrzewski

4th January 2006

Composed for (and commissioned by) the gifted pianist and international performer Berenika Zakrzewski, the Prelude for solo piano is a substantial new work. Around 10 minutes long, it demands great stamina and technique from the pianist: the Prelude is constructed in a modified "rondo" form, featuring three intertwined musical subjects. The score will be available via the Works Database soon. Details of the world premiere to follow!

New Work: Sonata for Tuba

Score Available Online Soon Now

27th October 2005

Composed for the RMA Research Students' Conference in Leeds, on 6th January 2006. It will be performed by renowned tuba player James Gourlay. The Sonata for Tuba is just 5 minutes long, but packs in three movements: a (micro) sonata-style form, but with a few twists! The score (there is no accompaniment) will be published on this website soon.

Update

1st November 2005

The score is now available for download, via the Works Database.

Update

7th January 2006

James Gourlay gave a very interesting workshop on the first movement of the Sonata for Tuba at the RMA Conference.

New Work: The Four Dragons

Score And Parts Available Online

21st July 2005

Commissioned by Hong Kong Philharmonic principal trumpet Ying Cai, the score and parts for Tim Benjamin's new work The Four Dragons: A Chinese Tale (or, How The Great Rivers Came To Be) are now available in the Works Database. The first performance of this new work is expected to be given in Beijing, China, by the Royal Scottish Academy Brass Ensemble in their 2005 summer tour of China.
More details on the first performance will be posted here when available.

Update

16th September 2005

Unfortunately, the tour to China was pulled due to some kind of funding crisis. Several brass groups are now looking at the possibility of a performance in the near future!

Update 2

4th January 2006

The world premiere of The Four Dragons is upon us: it will be performed at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, on Wednesday 25th January 2006! See the full announcement above.

Music 2.0: Episode 1

London concert featuring works by Tim Benjamin

23rd March 2005

7.30pm Thursday 24th March 2005, Bridewell Theatre, London EC4
Pictures and audio clips from Episode 1 are now available.
Click here for full details of Episode 1