Music undergraduate Christopher Churcher was selected to take part in a composition residency at this year's JAM on the Marsh festival in Kent, at which he premiered an original choral composition, Evening Star. Below, Christopher reflects on his experience, the support he received from LMH, and his future aspirations.
My Residency Experience
Having completed my first year as a music student at LMH, I was delighted to receive support from the college to attend a composition residency at the JAM on the Marsh arts festival in Kent this July.
My relationship with JAM dates back to last summer, when I was selected for the prestigious composition masterclass with VOCES8. Little did I know that my new work for VOCES8, Echo, would win a £500 commission for next year’s festival. The recognition I received for this work was a turning point, and led to me returning to JAM on the Marsh this year, as a Composer in Residence, joining the first-ever JAM masterclass residency programme.
The residency provided an idyllic setting as I stayed in a charming cottage in Littlestone, Kent, nestled on the shingle coast of Dungeness. Over the course of two weeks, the four masterclass composers were tasked with creating new works for The Sacconi Quartet. Under the guidance of leading composers Gabriel Jackson and Paul Mealor, we received daily tutoring and mentoring sessions. The opportunity to receive one-on-one feedback from these distinguished composers was truly invaluable, and it was particularly fascinating to hear their critiques of our initial sketches, as the string quartets took shape.
As the festival unfolded, the time came for the premiere of the commission I was presented with from the VOCES8 masterclass. The commission was to compose a five-minute choral work for the Delaware Choral Scholars. This ensemble, comprised of talented student and professional singers from across Delaware and the East Coast of America, was under the direction of Dr Paul Head, one of America's leading choral directors. The knowledge that this exceptional group of singers had travelled across the Atlantic to perform my composition, Evening Star, left me profoundly humbled. Meeting the choir members and hearing their kind words about my music really added to the depth of the experience. I even had the pleasure of joining the choir to sing some works by Jonathan Dove and Benjamin Britten. The premiere was nothing short of spellbinding, and I eagerly anticipate visiting the choir again when I journey to New York in September.
The residency culminated in the masterclass composers’ workshop - in which our new string quartets were heard in public for the first time. My new work, Feather Canyons, delved into the unique sounds of guitar fingerpicking, translating folk guitar textures into the realm of the string quartet. The process of workshopping the composition with the quartet was illuminating, allowing me to delve into the mechanics of string instruments, despite being a non-string player myself.
Looking forward, I have plenty of exciting milestones coming up soon. September will see the release of my first published work, Goldenrod, composed for the bassoonist Ashby Mayes. Additionally, Michaelmas term will see the premieres of two commissions: one for Antiquum Documentum ('Nesciens Mater') and the other for Opus48 ('Hodie re-imagined').
I would like to express my gratitude to LMH for their financial support, which enabled my participation in the JAM masterclass residency. Without their belief in my work, this experience would not have been possible.
About Christopher Churcher
Christopher is a first-year undergraduate reading music at LMH. For more information about his work, or to contact him regarding commissions, please explore his website: www.christopherchurcher.com.
