Page 773 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

‘Ga Yau is the expression ”add oil” in Cantonese, which essentially means to keep going,’ Howard
told The Strad. ’ We used to chant it from the stands at sports days as a form of motivation when
people were running. This piece is really about motivating yourself and others to get through
difficult situations.’

Howard’s music has been performed internationally and she is currently composer-in-residence
with the London Chamber Orchestra. In 2021, Howard received a Royal Philharmonic Society
Award for her Trombone Concerto and she is currently recording her debut album with the Royal
Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

2. Dobrinka Tabakova: Nocturne for violin and piano

Award-winning Bulgarian composer Dobrinka Tabakova has been commissioned by the Royal
Philharmonic Society, BBC Radio 3 and the European Broadcasting Union. The Strad described her
music as having ‘glowing tonal harmonies and grand, sweeping gestures [which] convey a huge
emotional depth’.

In May 2022, violinist Mari Samuelson released her album LYS with Deutsche Grammophon. The
album contains 15 works, all by female composers, includingTabakova’s Nocturne.

Read: ‘You raise me up’: Women in Lutherie

Read: ‘Classical music is full of women, but policy and decision-making positions are still male
dominated’: working mothers in music

Discover more like this in The Strad Playing Hub

3. Kaija Saariaho: Petals

Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho was born in Helsinki in 1952. During her studies at IRCAM
(Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) Saariaho developed techniques of
computer-assisted composition including working with tape and live electronics. Saariaho has won
various accolades including the Grawemeyer Award, The Wihuri Prize and the Nemmers Prize.

Her album Saariaho: Works for Cello was released under the Dux label in July 2022. The piece is
performed by Joanna Gutowska, who has researched Saariaho’s music extensively and obtained her
PhD with the thesis Kaija Saariaho’s cello works as an example of new qualities of sound and
expression.

4. Errollyn Wallen: For Airi

Errollyn Wallen is a multi award-winning Belize-born British composer and performer. In 1998 she
was the first black woman to have her work featured in the Proms, and in 2013 was the first
woman to receive an Ivor Novello award for classical music. Her commissions include music for the
opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games 2012, the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees, as
well as a song for the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).

In March 2022, violinist Fenella Humphreys released her recording of Wallen’s For Airi on the
Rubicon Classics label.