A superb premiere recording of my flute concerto, House Music, has been released. It was recorded by virtuoso flautist Alexa Still with the Oberlin Orchestra, cond. Raphael Jimenez.
It is a wonderful recording – totally top notch and very much as I imagined the piece in the first place.
The recording is available through iTunes, Amazon US or Amazon UK.
Written for the HUSH Music Foundation, “The Stars Above Us All” has recently been released on a disc of Australian music. This disc is written to provide calming and engaging music for children undergoing treatment in hospitals, as well as their parents and administering doctors and surgeons.
“The Stars Above Us All” was premiered by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra at the beginning of December 2013, and the entire concert was broadcast live on ABC Classic FM. Myself and other composers involved, including Maria Grenfell, Brenton Broadstock, Paul Stanhope, Elena Kats-Chernin and Stuart Greenbaum, were involved signing CDs for 25 minutes after the concert.
Flash – Claire Edwardes (marimba)
Sydney-based percussionist Claire Edwardes has put together an intriguing collection of marimba miniatures on this disc, ranging from transcriptions of Bach chorales, lute suites and various short piano works through to newly composed works for this disc. The playing is excellent. The opening Bach track showcases the beauty of the marimba in such an intriguing way. Claire definitively performs my piece Flash with precision, verge and vigour.
North-South-East-West – Marcel Luxen (Clarinet)
Singapore-based clarinettist Marcel Luxen is an excellent performer, and on this disc he is performing Nintendo Music. Nintendo Music certainly depends on having a top class player, and Marcel certainly doesn’t disappoint. One would think that he’s been playing the Nintendo Entertainment System all his life!
Here is a Youtube clip of Marcel playing Nintendo Music.
The Metallic Violins – James Cuddeford and Natsuoko Yoshimoto
This disc, also released on Tall Poppies, continues to garner extremely good reviews. And with good reason – the playing from the two violinists is simply awesome. Anyone interested in violin repertoire would love this disc. There isn’t one dud piece or note on there.
James and Natsuoko perform my piece The Metallic Violins within an inch of its life. Here is an audio excerpt:
A CD will be released in 2011 featuring some of my selected solo and chamber works. This disc will be released by the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and will feature works including
EDIT: A great review of this disc in The Australian, 27 March 2010: “Hindson’s [The] Metallic Violins is the fun, flamboyant showpiece of the collection. It borrows the technique of “shredding” from heavy metal, in which guitars solos are played at breakneck speed. Stagy sliding and scratchy effects on both violins emulate an electric guitar in full flight. But what makes this piece work so well is the sumptuous finesse Cuddeford and Yoshimoto bring to it: they give it all the refinement of a Bach Partita.”
That bastion of the Australian recording industry, Tall Poppies, has recently released a disc entitled The Metallic Violins, which opens with my piece for two violins, The Metallic Violins.
This disc is amazingly good. The standard of performance by Natsuko Yoshimoto and James Cuddeford is off the charts. The recording quality is beautiful. The choice of works is exemplary, with a range of compositional styles very well represented. And every one of the works is outstanding in terms of its quality.
Here is a 3 minute excerpt from the opening of the work:
How lucky we are as composers to have performers and a recording company of this quality to represent our music. Thank you to founder of Tall Poppies, Belinda Webster.
