I was utterly delighted to have been asked my my dear friends Laura Simpson and Rickey Long to perform in their new musical initiative.  

With theatres around the world still closed and arts industries in jeopardy, Laura and Rickey took the initiative to write and stage a brand new musical.... in the space of ONE WEEK! No mean feat, which saw a cast of 7 (including myself), a band of 4 and a production team of 3 write, rehearse, produce and bring alive a brand new music, playing to a packed house at the Avril Earl's Dance and Theatre Centre in Guernsey.  

It was an amazing event - a live recording of the premiere was filmed and will be posted shortly.  
However, this is not the end! The show is still in development, and there are some exciting things on the horizon. For more information, head over to All-Nighter the Musical's website

This year would have marked the 10th Anniversary of Choral Chameleon's Summer Institute; an amazing forum in New York City, who I credit with giving me the huge career surge I have seen in the last few years. Undeterred by the COVID19 pandemic and it's devastating impact on the arts, Choral Chameleon Hosted an online institute this year, which included online interviews/masterclasses with the faculty, performers, and composer/conductor alumni.

I was thrilled to be asked to take part in alumni interview alongside some dear friends.
You can watch in full on Choral Chameleon's Youtube Channel

Despite everything that's going on, the amazing people I get to work with are all still finding ways to push through with optimism and hope for the arts when we return to a sense of normalcy. At the end of 2019 I was commissioned by Choral Chameleon to take part in their project, 'Bigger than my Song', which sees 11 commissioned composers arranging any Top 40 Hit they choose for Choral Chameleon to perform. These performances would then be recorded and remixed by a DJ for a 'choral rave' event 

I'm absolutely gutted that this event is on hiatus for the time being, but I am delighted to have been asked to take part in the online interview with artistic director Vince Peterson, as well as 4 other composers involved in the project 

Here's the full interview on Choral Chameleon's Youtube Channel - and if you're in a rush, jump to 25' to hear me talk a little bit about getting to write for Choral Chameleon (and for a little moment of comedy delight as well!) 



 

I am delighted by this wonderfully written review by Dan Lis, of my piece 'Carolina's Jig' on his blog site Composers Toolbox. 
- Dan has reviewed my work before, having written another great article about 'Vous-lous enne P'tite Goute?', and I'm glad he saw fit to talk so highly of this piece as well 

You can read the post by following the link below

https://composerstoolbox.com/2020/05/18/lydia-jane-pugh-carolinas-jig/ 

It's been a rough few weeks/months in the creative arts world, that's for sure.... but here in Guernsey we have been making the most of it, and there have been some amazing virtual performances (including an Upload Festival), and a true sense of community. 

May the 9th is our national holiday, Liberation Day, and this year should have been a huge celebration to mark the 75th anniversary of the the Channel Islands liberation from occupying forces - 3/4's of a century of freedom. Due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, sadly, these celebrations have been massively affected, with all the large-scale events cancelled, and islands told to stay home.  

But no fear! Music is still here, and I'm delighted to say I have been invited to be involved in many ways! 

The first is as a composer, where two of my pieces which were written about the occupation and evacuation of the Channel Islands in WW2 will be featured in the section entitled 'Commemorate'; 'Spirits of the Lager Sylt' for Male Voice Choir, and the award-winning 'Adiraï' as performed by the Young New Yorkers Chorus.

And the second, as a singer and leader! In the following section entitled 'Celebrate', myself, my mother and my fiancé will be kicking off the sing-a-long section with 'Sarnia Cherie' and a few well-loved 1940s classics 

You can catch the entire live stream, starting at 2.30pm BST (british summer time), by liking the Liberation 75 page (link below), where the stream will be hosted from (or you can catch it again later I'm sure!) 

If you don't think you'll make the live stream, you can follow the link below to my soundcloud page to hear 'Spirits of the Lager Sylt' and 'Adiraï' fpr yourselves 

https://www.facebook.com/Liberation-75-Where-words-fail-music-speaks

https://soundcloud.com/lydia-jane-pugh


Thanks all! Stay Safe! x 

Who would have thought we'd be here? We are certainly living in unprecedented times at the moment - the Coronavirus Pandemic has caused huge disruption to travel, and cancellations and postponements of live music concerts, gigs and festivals across the world, and sadly, Divisions of Memory was also affected by this all. At present, the concert is on hiatus, and will be rescheduled for later in the year. 

CEO Bob Lord and the whole team at PARMA Recordings have been amazing in keeping me informed about the situation, and their optimism is keeping me hopeful about the continuation of the project once everything has calmed down. 

In the meantime, you can still listen to the piece by watching the promo video, recorded during the live studio recording session at Mount Vernon Studios in New York.

I am delighted to say that my piece 'Carolina's Jig' will be featured on the album 'Division of Memory', performed by Thomas Mesa (cellist). To launch the album, my piece along with the others from the album will be performed at a special concert in New York City, on March 19th. 

Details for the concert are all below in the poster, and you can follow the link for tickets: 

https://dimennacenter.org/event/parma-recordings-presents-division-of-memory/

My piece, Carolina's Jig, which was written as part of the Charlotte New Music Festival 2015, was recorded by the exceptional cellist Thomas Mesa, at Mount Vernon Studios in New York on December 5th. 

As I was unable to attend the recording, I got to experience the recording process from the comfort of my own home through the wonders of technology. What an amazing experience this was! Thomas is a wonderful player, and his passion for making the piece exactly as I want it as the composer is hugely admirable. He's also a lovely lovely person! 
- I also got to experience the intial editing process, which is like hearing magic unfold. The engineers with PARMA Recordings are truly amazing!
 

Keep your eyes and ears peeled for the album launch in the new year, and the live concert in NYC in the spring! Exciting times ahead for my music!

I am thrilled to say that 'My Hiding Place (Psalm 32)' has been awarded 2nd prize by the NSDU Challey School of Music for the Edwin Fissinger Choral Composition Competition, and it will be performed sometime during the 2019-2020 season

This piece means so much to me, and I'm delighted to see it really starting to take flight, receiving awards and increasingly more performances, especially in the US - you can have a listen to the original recording below, and if you're interested in the score, you can purchase it from the STORE pages

Huge congratulations to the competition winner Christina Whitten Thomas for her work “And I Shall Sing” - I hope to hear it sometime in the near future! 

https://www.ndsu.edu/performingarts/music/fissinger 

https://soundcloud.com/lydia-jane-pugh/my-hiding-place-psalm-32 

I'm delighted to say that My Hiding Place was included in the Association of Choral Directors in America's summer conference reading packet in Pennsylvania, which took place August 4th-6th in Pittsburgh, 2019

https://www.acdapa.org 

The piece was in the reading packet for new music, specifically the section featuring works by new composers and intended for college-level musicians. 

Hope everyone in Pittsburgh liked my piece!