Approaching the end of 2022 — Luke Styles Composer

Well 2022 has been a massive year! Since I last wrote I’ve been to Australia for performances of my opera Awakening Shadow and my saxophone concerto Tracks In The Orbit, both of which went down very well. You can still catch the ABC Radio broadcast of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra playing the concerto!

★★★★½ "This beautifully curated production from one of Australia’s most innovative arts groups lingers in the mind," Sydney Morning Herald

★★★★ "an intelligent, fascinating, and excellently performed piece. SCO have added to its rich repertoire of thought-provoking and important theatre works. Long may this continue," Australian Book Review

"Sydney Chamber Opera's new show is a riveting 90 minutes of exciting and at times challenging music and stunning imagery," Daily Telegraph

Since returning back home to London I have been immersed in writing Custodians of the Sky for Le Balcon in Paris. The work is for two voices (tenor and bass-baritone) an ensemble of 15 instruments, electronics and video. I am at the stage where almost all of the text is set and this has been done in short score, so there is an element of what the instrumental ensemble will do already composed. After Christmas it will be down to orchestrating and if things stay on track the work will be ready for the players a month ahead of the premiere on the 15th of April.

In this work so far I have really been able to do everything I could possibly want with the singers (Tenor Michael Smallwood, Bass-Baritone Damien Pass), they are fearless and this has allowed my vocal writing to go into new abstract spaces. The instrumental ensemble is yet to be discovered in detail (that’s the next stage of composition), but there will be a spatial element which I will play with. I will create different performing spaces in the venue, playing with levels of height and distance from the audience and the central ensemble. This will have a parallel in the diffusion of the electronics, from surround global sound to very tightly located sound sources on the stage.

Alongside composing there have been a few other big bits of news. I have recently been appointed as the artistic director of the Deal Festival.

This is a huge honour and an exciting opportunity for me. I have loved running my own ensemble in the past and have been involved with festivals and curating events and programmes throughout my career. I’m now thrilled to bring all of this experience to bear in this new position and create a festival offering that is innovative, diverse, community minded and driven by excellence. Come, hear and see what we bring together in July 2023!

The final piece of news is that I have taken a new step in my working relationship with management. I have just entered into a new agreement with Blom Music Management, based in the Netherlands, I will be working closely with the team on new commissions and projects across Europe and beyond. I am thrilled about the experience and knowledge that Blom Music Management have of the contemporary music landscape and the enthusiasm and understanding they have of my music already.

I’ll be back on here in 2023. Have a lovely festive season!