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about us
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The Continuum Ensemble is dedicated to performing concert and dramatic music from the 20th and 21st centuries. Founded in 1994 under the direction of conductor Philip Headlam and pianist/composer Douglas Finch, the ensemble performs solo, chamber, vocal and ensemble music as well as opera and music theatre. The diversity of the ensemble’s performances and programmes has consistently drawn enthusiastic reviews with over 40 world premieres including 28 by British composers, 40 U.K. premieres and 10 premieres of newly revised/arranged music to its credit.
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Little Red Riding Hood, Almeida Theatre, July 2005
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Greeted with considerable critical praise, The Continuum Ensemble’s performances of contemporary opera and music theatre have presented appreciative audiences with productions that few other companies attempt in Great Britain. We have performed the work of Georges Aperghis, one of Europe’s most innovative dramatic composers in productions directed by Annabel Arden: Recitations and Conversations, a collection of music theatre pieces in a sold out series at the South Bank Centre, London and Little Red Riding Hood, a music theatre piece for audiences age 7 and up, in a new production for the prestigious Almeida Opera, London. Other productions include Udo Zimmermann’s opera White Rose, directed by Mike Ashman at Regent Hall, London and Hans Werner Henze’s El Cimarron in collaboration with the English National Opera at the Coliseum, London. The Continuum Ensemble recorded the score of Judith Weir’s opera Armida, commissioned by Channel 4 television for broadcast at Christmas 2005 and recorded the soundtrack for the film, Painted Angels, released in 1999. |
The Continuum Ensemble has performed twice at the prestigious Spitalfields Festival and twice for the BMIC Cutting Edge series and New Music series at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge. Other performances include the Quebec in Motion Festival, the New Iberia Festival and broadcasts on BBC Radio 3’s Morning Performance and Hear and Now. Festivals organized by the Ensemble include the Gamelan Festival in collaboration with the Royal College of Music Gamelan and the highly successful three day festival, Improvisation: Tradition and Innovation which featured Douglas Finch’s peerless skill as an improviser and performances by organist/composer Naji Hakim, percussionist Eddy Prevost and pianist John Law, a rendition of Cornelius Cardew’s famous score, Treatise, workshops and a national competition for student improvisers.
The ensemble received outstanding reviews for their cd releases of music by composers Errollyn Wallen (Avie) and Roger Smalley (NMC).
In April 2005, The Continuum Ensemble celebrated the music of Henri Dutilleux in his 90th year with concerts at the Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, London and Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge featuring cellist Jerome Pernoo and baritone Gary Magee. Future events include the television broadcast of Judith Weir’s opera Armida on Channel 4 at Christmas 2005, a tour of Little Red Riding Hood by Georges Aperghis in the U.K. and Europe in spring/summer 2006 and concerts featuring the music of British composers in the autumn 2005 and Frederic Rzewski in April 2006.
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