That was the year that was.

Pittenweem, Fife, Scotland, on New Year's Day 2024

2023 felt like the first year of 'normality' (interpret as you will) since 2019, from my small corner of the music world.

After wondering if the musical busyness of Glasgow would ever recover from the pandemic, it felt like it returned at full throttle, with an explosion of arts events across the city and country, with more to see than ever before (and with a greater amount of new music on offer - that I can recall - than at any time in Glasgow in the previous 20 years).

This has required some meticulous planning for organising concerts of new works by our RCS composers, as well as to allow me to get to as much as I could (around work and family life).

Coupled with my post-pandemic dip in creative activity (when many projects simply disappeared), it has also meant that I have spent less time on brand new pieces, and focused on making sure that my back catalogue of work is available for my homepage at Composers Edition (which it mostly is now!).

Alongside my teaching commitments (individual tutorials, classes and lectures at the RCS), and board membership at NYOS, I have once again been involved with the fantastic Notes From Scotland project for young composers, and with the second year as external examiner for the BMus degree at the Royal College of Music and NAFA in Singapore.

I have also finally started to think ahead a little more (for the first time since 2019!), and have some strong creative plans for 2024, which I will hope to share soon. I am also very excited to continue with my role as Head of Composition at the RCS (also new in 2023!), and there are some interesting plans in place for the next year.

Happy New (Music) Year!