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Recipients of the 2025 RPS Thea Musgrave Fund announced
Following the RPS’ launch of their fund set up with support from Thea and Peter in April, we are excited to share the list of recipients of the first round of grants as selected by RPS. This year the fund will support five composer-performer partnerships with RPS Thea Musgrave Composition Grants, and four ensembles and festivals with RPS Thea Musgrave Performance Grants.
Throughout Thea’s career, she has treasured having dedicated time to shape ideas with musicians. RPS Thea Musgrave Composition Grants support composers writing a new work for an established solo performer, duo, or chamber ensemble – not only contributing to their commission, but within each grant vitally giving them and their intended performers some means to devote focused workshop and rehearsal time to its creation. This year RPS Thea Musgrave Composition Grants have been awarded to:
David Gorton writing for flautist Carla Rees
Emma-Ruth Richards writing for soprano Jennifer France
Robert Laidlow writing for baritone Peter Brathwaite
Samantha Fernando writing for viol consort Fretwork
Stuart MacRae writing for mezzo soprano Beth Taylor
Thea’s remarkable catalogue of compositions spans decades and is a veritable treasure trove for performers and programmers. RPS Thea Musgrave Performance Grants help performers, ensembles, festivals and venues to put Thea’s music at the heart of their UK programming, and distinctively promote it to captivate audiences. This year, RPS Thea Musgrave Performance Grants have been awarded to:
Marsyas Trio with mezzo soprano Lotte Betts-Dean
Find out more about the recipients at the RPS website here.
Chicago classical review of Piccolo play at the cso
Last weekend (October 3-4) brought a fantastic performance of Thea’s Piccolo Play, performed by piccolo soloist Jennifer Gunn with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and their conductor Daniela Candillari. Read an exerpt from Tim Sawyier’s review for the Chicago Classical Review below, and find the full article here.
The first half closed with the first CSO performances of Thea Musgrave’s Piccolo Play. Originally composed in 1989 for piccolo and piano, Musgrave revised the work in 2022 with string accompaniment for the 50th anniversary of the National Flute Association. CSO piccolo Jennifer Gunn premiered this new version with the Chicago Philharmonic at the 50th NFA Convention in Chicago that year, and was again the soloist for its first CSO subscription performances.
Piccolo Play unfolds in seven brief movements, each named after a Couperin harpsichord piece. The solo piccolo weaves enchanting melodic minor lines in “L’Enchanteresse” (The Enchantress) and makes ranine bounds in “L’Amphibie” (The Frog). Each movement has an aphoristic quality, and a pointillist texture prevails in the central ones. Gunn’s stern piping vividly depicted “Le Bruit de Guerre” (The Noise of War) and she was unphased by the technical demands of the final breakneck “Le Turbulent” (The Turbulent One).
Gunn is a true virtuoso of her instrument, more at ease in a soloist role than many orchestral players. Her pure, well-projected tone was always in the service of Musgrave’s condensed expression and made a compelling case for the piccolo as a concertante instrument.
- Tim Sawyier - October 4, 2025
Looking back at Gena raps’ article’s about thea for persimmon Tree magazine
Gena Raps, editor of online arts magazine Persimmon Tree’s has been introducing readers to older women who have made — and are still making — uniquely significant contributions to the world of music since 2009. Gena first interviewed Thea back in 2009 when she started writing for the magazine, and revisited her work recently, following the ENO’s spectacular production of Mary, Queen of Scots. We’re highlighting these two great articles as testament to Gena’s great work and commitment to and recognition of Thea’s career.
Click here to read the 2009 interview and to listen to a selection of Musgrave’s compositions.
Click here for Gena’s journal, photographs and a recording from the week of the ENO’s 2025 production of Mary, Queen of Scots, a spectacular occasion including a special reception at the House of Lords.
Thea’s Commission for the bbc’s ‘25 for 25: sounds of the century’ project
BBC Radio 3’s 25 for 25: Sounds of the Century features 25 new commissions, written by some of the most influential composers of our time, inspired by 25 significant events which have defined the first quarter of the 2000s.
Thea’s In memoriam 2022 commemorates the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra led by Nil Venditti, with oboist Nicholas Daniel and violinist Johan Dalene, the work will receive its premiere broadcast on June 28.
Recorded by BBC Performing Groups and Radio 3 New Generation Artists, the new commissions all have their first broadcast on Saturday Mornings with Tom Service each week and are then presented across the Radio 3 schedule throughout the week following their premiere, including plays on Breakfast, Essential Classics and In Tune. Find out more about the project and the other amazing new commissions here.
Listen to the broadcast from June 28 here (Thea’s piece at 2h 39m)
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