In a year that sees the NSC pushing through major new ideas on the new music front, Roger May has just been appointed as the Choir's first composer-in-residence.

Roger May

Roger, who won the Choir's 2006 Composition Competition with Introduction & Riffs, and whose Simon's Mangrove Groove features in current repertoire, will produce three works for the NSC over the next 12-18 months. His first assignment is to write a short but epic piece for solo baritone and Choir inspired by the Colosseum in Rome, one of seven movements featuring a different member of the sax family and each written by a different composer, of an ambitious new music project, 7 Wonders. (More news on this shortly.)

NSC Musical Director Nigel Wood believes that Roger's appointment will make a substantial contribution to generating more exciting and challenging sax choir repertoire, one of the Choir's core objectives. "This is a hugely exciting new development for us," he explained. "Roger writes brilliantly for the saxophone and has a thorough understanding of our repertoire needs. The Choir already knows and respects Roger's work and we're all absolutely delighted to be working with him."

Read more about Roger and Introduction & Riffs

The National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain is a lively, talented and enterprising ensemble of saxophonists committed to presenting challenging but accessible music to as wide an audience as possible.

The NSC was founded by Nigel Wood in 2003. It has already made a big impact on the saxophonic world and currently attracts players and guest conductors from all over the country to its monthly rehearsals at the DanceXchange in the Birmingham Hippodrome.

Standards are rigorously maintained by audition but the ethos is friendly, co-operative and adventurous.

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