In September 2021 I visited the Mahler Players during a rehearsal weekend. I recorded the orchestra rehearsing and several of the players talking about the ensemble. The pieces explore the very specific shared experiences of the players in this group. I found the visit very inspiring and really enjoyed hearing all of the players stories. In the pieces one of the things I tried to do is to find a connection between the voices and the orchestra recordings, by finding and creating musicality in the voices.

Thanks to Tomas Leakey and the orchestra for commissioning these pieces.

In Rehearsal

I felt a real affinity with the way the members of the Mahler Players talked about rehearsal as a great joy, as something to look forward to. I felt a real purity of musicality that I found very inspiring. There was a real sense that for them, this was play time and I’ve tried to capture that in this sketch.

Highland Connections

One of the things that really struck me about visiting the Mahler Players was the many and varied ways the players had come to the Highlands, but how that shared love of the Highlands created such a strong connection in the group. This sketch explores some of these stories.