Publishing Deal In November 2007 Piers Hellawell’s work was acquired by Peters Edition Ltd (London). Peters Edition will represent the catalogue throughout the world through its sister companies in Frankfurt and New York and its international network of agents. Agricolas – A sculptural concerto Piers Hellawell’s latest large scale concertante essay, Agricolas, is a work for clarinet and orchestra commissioned by Robert Plane. He will be the soloist, with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Michal Dworzynski, in the world premiere at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival on 11 September 2008 – see www.valeofglamorganfestival.org/2008_festival/bbcnow.asp for more information. The premiere is to be broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s ‘Hear and Now’ on the evening of Saturday 20th September, introduced by the composer. Agricolas takes its title and concept of design from the work of the American sculptor David Smith, many of whose works were grouped into sets in terms of their shared titles – for example the Agricolas. The work for clarinet and orchestra reflects the modular structure of many of Smith’s pieces by replacing the concerto’s characteristic narrative structures with a series of discrete items scored for fragmentary ensembles; the sequences of these sections form two overall movements. The solo clarinet is conceived in the role of commentator: eschewing strident display and conflict, it is free to explore a variety of chamber associations around the orchestra. CD Release Spring of 2008 saw the release of Dogs and Wolves, the latest CD collection from Metronome Recordings of Piers Hellawell’s work, featuring substantial orchestral and chamber works from the last ten years. This period has seen a number of major scores from Hellawell, including several commissioned by the artists appearing on this disc, to consolidate what The Gramophone has called Hellawell’s “steadily building reputation as a musical non-conformist”. Two recent orchestral works frame the disc, which also includes Hellawell’s 2nd string quartet Driftwood on Sand and two chamber works widely performed by the Schubert Ensemble. Sound Carvings on tour Stockholm Chamber Brass continues to perform Sound Carvings from the Bell Foundry, which it commissioned in 2006, around the world. This summer has seen two performances of the work in Mexico – one acclaimed by the festival audience in Oaxaca and the other, in Mexico City, given live on Mexican Television; these are followed by another performance in Norway, this time at Bergen’s BrassWind Festival, on 28th September. Glasgow Premiere The earlier part of 2007 saw the composition of Etruscan Games for piano trio, commissioned by Gerry Mattock and Beryl Calver-Jones, which was premiered by the Da Vinci Trio on 6 March 2008. Overseas Premiere of Litholatry In February 2008 'Litholatry' (2001) received its first overseas performance, given by the new music ensemble of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. It was featured in two concerts given in The Roundhouse, Vancouver, Canada on 17th and 18th February 2008, conducted by Rosemary Thomson. Review Vancouver described it as a rousing Canadian premiere… all swirling circles and colour and movement, with ideas shifting rapidly, a kind of Impressionistic palette with riffs". Reviews are given in full in the Reviews section under ‘Composition’.