Page 548 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

new works and commissions for Liverpool Philharmonic ensembles.
Christopher will write a new work for performance by Ensemble 10:10, the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s contemporary music group, in
Autumn 2023.

Christopher is a Manchester based composer currently studying for a post-
graduate diploma in composition at the Royal Northern College of Music
under Professors Emily Howard and Adam Gorb, having received a
scholarship from the Richard Newitt Fund. In 2021, he was a finalist in the
John Armitage Memorial Prize, working alongside Paul Mealor with players
from the LSO and Onyx Brass. In 2022, he won the Rosamond Prize,
collaborating with the poet Katherine Collins on his piece, ‘They Multiply Their
Wings’ and this year, he was also a finalist in the RNCM’s Gold Medal
competition with his Piano Trio ‘Apeirophobia’.

On winning the prize Christopher said, “I am incredibly grateful to have been
given this opportunity by the Liverpool Philharmonic, to be able to work
alongside players of such calibre is an immense privilege I could never have
imagined I would get. Over the coming year, not only am I hugely excited to be
able to bring my visions to life with the chance to work with the wonderful
Ensemble 10:10, but also for the possibility to meet and form connections
with so many inspiring musicians who I know will help push me to further
develop my compositional craft.”

Peter Garden, Executive Director – Performance and Learning at Liverpool
Philharmonic commented, “The Rushworth Composition Prize is an integral
part of Liverpool Philharmonic’s long term and wide ranging support for
emerging talent in the North West. We are delighted to award the Prize to
Christopher this year. The standard of entries is always very high and we
thank everyone who put themselves forward. I am looking forward to hearing
more of Christopher’s music over this next year, culminating in the
performance of a new commission by Ensemble 10:10 in 2023.”

On Wednesday 26 October, Ensemble 10:10 performed 2021 Rushworth
Composition Prize winner Nneka Cummins’ new work Metal Tapestry .

Previous winners of the Rushworth Composition Prize include Grace-
Evangeline Mason, who premiered new orchestral work The Imagined
Forest at the 2021 BBC Proms, co-commissioned with the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra, and Carmel Smickersgill, who was nominated for the
Ivors Academy Rising Star Award in 2020.