History
The Cardiff New Music Collective members met whilst studying at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, sharing a common interest in the performance and promotion of new music. Since 2003, CNMC’s activities have included concerts at Chapter Arts Centre, the Wales Millennium Centre, Gallery G39, and Aberystwyth Arts Centre, amongst others.
The Collective has also collaborated with Diversions Dance Company, for the 'Departure Terminal' project, which tied together new music and new choreography, and the Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard Theatre Company, for a production of Samuel Beckett's 'Words and Music' (with music written by Paul Jones). In July 2006, the group also performed a programme of music inspired by chance and random events alongside the 'You'll Never Know: Drawing and Random Interference' exhibition at the Glynn Vivan Art Gallery, Swansea.
The Collective often features improvisation in performances, and premiered Matthew Lovett's 'Four Elements' in 2006, a work that involved the performers exploring the sonic possibilities of earth, water, fire and earth.
In 2006 the Collective received an award from the Arts Council of Wales and PRS Foundation’s ‘New Music Works’ scheme in order to commission Keith Tippett to write More Than Two Sides To A Story. Aside from their associate composers, CNMC has also premiered works by composers including Andrew Wilson-Dickson, Gareth Churchill, Damian Rees, Ryan Yard, and many more.
As well as commissioning completely new music, CNMC also regularly performs the work of the masters of modern composition, such as George Crumb, Toru Takemitsu, Elliot Carter, John Cage, Peter Maxwell Davies, Christian Wolff, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Kaija Saariaho, and many more.
