Saxophonist Simon Haram and London Sinfonietta premiere Sapiens – a brand new commission from Mark Bowden in London, 7th December.

Mark Bowden’s new saxophone concerto is inspired by Yuval Noah Harari’s extraordinary history of humankind; Sapiens. It forms part of a fascinating evening exploring links between musical composition and literature, presented by journalist and writer Bidisha. Also featuring the world premiere of Colin Matthews’ As Time Returns; a setting of poems by Czech poet Ivan Blatný, who was exiled to England in 1948, and Oliver Knussen's Songs Without Voices, this varied evening of music and discussion will give you food for thought.

Mark Bowden is a British composer of chamber, orchestral and vocal music. His work has been described as ‘an exceptional and absorbing pleasure’ [The Guardian], ‘conjuring up magic and mystery’ [Opera], ‘invigorating’ [The Times] and ‘powerfully dramatic’ [BBC Radio 3]. Mark is currently Professor of Composition at Royal Holloway, University of London. In 2015 he was awarded the Welsh Music Guild’s Glanville Jones Award and in 2016 he received a British Composer Award. He is currently writing his first full scale opera for Welsh National Opera.

To find out more behind the new work, please visit the Composers Edition website for a Q&A feature on Mark and Sapiens.

For more information or to book your tickets, please click here.