Owen Mortimer

Jul 17, 2024 | musicteachermagazine.co.uk | Owen Mortimer

This delightful new volume of piano miniatures by British composer Ruth Sellar follows hot on the heels of her first collection, A Musical Year, reviewed in the April 2024 issue of Music Teacher. This time, Sellar has found inspiration in ‘various means of transport’, ranging from steam train and bicycle to hot air balloon and camel train.

Mar 13, 2024 | musicteachermagazine.co.uk | Owen Mortimer

Owen Mortimer Ruth Sellar is a composer, teacher and pianist known to Classic FM audiences for her award-winning Christmas carols ‘Patapan’ and ‘The Snow Lies Thick’. This is her first collection for solo piano and was written during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

Jan 17, 2024 | musicteachermagazine.co.uk | Owen Mortimer

Recorded accompaniments for soloists to play along with are not new. The first Music Minus One recording was made in 1950, and the series has since grown to encompass nearly 900 classical and jazz titles. As a student, I used to love practising Mozart’s Horn Concertos with a Music Minus One album from my local library. Hearing myself accompanied by an orchestra opened up a whole new world of sound and was great fun, but it had one major drawback: the tempo was fixed and allowed no room for rubato.

Nov 12, 2023 | gramophone.co.uk | Owen Mortimer

Allan Clayton as Jephtha in the Royal Opera House production, November 2023 | Photo: Marc BrennerStaging any oratorio as a successful opera demands directorial flair. Handel’s Jephtha is a case in point: its score and libretto were conceived for the concert platform and contain all the elements of a complete performance without adding dramatics. So why bother?

Oct 15, 2023 | classical-music.uk | Owen Mortimer

Features After rehearsals interrupted by air raids, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine embarks on UK tour Owen Mortimer Amidst the din of war, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (NSOU) has spent recent weeks valiantly rehearsing for its first tour of the UK since 2001.