NMC Recordings releases the first commercial album to showcase disabled composers working in the UK. The composers featured on the recording include Sonia Allori, Sarah Lianne Lewis, Jo-anne Cox, Elinor Rowlands, Leon Clowes and Sorcha Pringle. Performed by Welsh pianist Siwan Rhys, the album also features performances by Sonia Allori (clarinet and electronic wind instrument), Jo-Anne Cox (Cello), and Elinor Rowlands (Narrator). The album was made possible due to a partnership between Drake Music Scotland, the Disabled Artist Network, Ty Cerdd, and NMC Recordings and funded by PRS Foundation's Beyond Borders Fund 2023. The project was managed by Pete Sparkes, Caitlin Mulgrew, and Thursa Sanderson of Drake Music Scotland, alongside Associate Composer Ben Lunn. The works featured on this album were premiered at a concert at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama / Coleg Brehinol Cerdd a Drama Cymru on 03 November 2023.
Ben Lunn, Associate Composer for Drake Music Scotland, and curator of this album said: 'Disabled people occupy a curious position in classical music. There are giant historic figures like Beethoven and Gustav Holst, but they are recognised as great composers - and much of the discussion around their disability is avoided, nullified, or erased. Similarly, the history of Disabled composers working with keyboards also is quite curiously rich where figures like John Stanley, Beethoven, Louis Vierne, Jean Langlais, and Erik Satie have made significant contributions to the genre over many centuries. This history places this album in a unique position, because despite the richness of history this is the first professional compilation release which specifically showcases Disabled composers who have written fascinating works for piano. The composers featured within this release are a snapshot of contemporary Disabled composers working in Britain, all of whom have a wide variety of musical concerns and interests - but give a hint of the wild variety that is being produced by Disabled composers more broadly today.'
