for symphony orchestra and electronics
Premiered on 12th January 2026 at the Barbican Centre, London by London Schools Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Lynch.
I have been lucky enough to grow up going to concerts in small, grassroots venues and, living in London today, visiting them for mine or my friends’ gigs is a regular and important part of my musical life. Right now, these spaces, vital for fostering young and original talent, are experiencing a crisis, as more and more are closing down each year.
Grassroots Generator celebrates and takes influence from some of the music that I hear in small, grassroots venues, jumbles it all up and brings in into my own music world in a collage-like piece for the orchestra. Sometimes, this cross-genre inspiration is fully exposed in the sampler keyboard part, but sometimes I try to use this material as a reference, to help me sculpt musical structures, melodies, and timbres into the orchestral writing. Sing along at the end – if you’d like!
This work was commissioned by the London Schools Symphony Orchestra and Centre for Young Musicians, funded by Cockayne Grants for the Arts via the Foundation for Young Musicians.
Interview:
https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/about-guildhall/news/this-is-london-coming-to-the-barbican
- Can you talk a bit about the title of your piece, Grassroots Generator – what do these venues generate for the London community and why is it important?
I think there’s a mountain of reasons why these small venues feel so special. Not only do they act as an entry point for young, fresh talent, but they also protect local identity against algorithmic sameness. They act as a safe space for people who don’t feel represented elsewhere and for niche subcultures of music and communities to gather and share music, which is so valuable for young people who more isolated today than ever. I have been lucky enough to grow up going to concerts in small, grassroots venues and, living in London today, visiting them for mine or my friends’ gigs is a regular and important part of my musical life, as I’m sure it is for many young musicians.
- Did you draw on specific music genres that thrive in grassroots venues e.g. jazz, grime, rock? How were you able to weave them into this orchestral piece of music and pay homage to the iconic London music scene?
I feel like my piece takes influence from many types of music. I think a lot of the sonic influences I had in my head might be difficult or unfair to attribute to just one genre. This was quite useful because it let me bring lots of sounds into my own music world like a visual artist might make a collage – pulling images from many different sources, where some of the material has direct references to their origin, whilst some bits might be more separated from their source media. In my piece, sometimes this cross-genre inspiration is fully exposed in the sampler keyboard part, but sometimes I try to use this material as a reference, to help me sculpt musical structures, melodies, and timbres into the orchestral writing.
- What did you enjoy most about composing this work?
This piece was so exciting to write as I had such a large force of musicians to work with alongside the electronics. Taking slices of my favourite sounds from the multitude of genres I hear performed in small, grassroots venues and translating them into orchestral language was challenging but rewarding – I felt like I could be so greedy in taking different elements from lots of different types of music, to jumble them all together and see what came out of it!
- How did it feel knowing your work would be performed by the talented young individuals of LSSO?
It felt like an absolute honour to think that I’d be able to work with a group of young musicians that are so eager and committed to all the music they perform. I felt like each musical part I wrote would really be invested in by the player who performs it, as if they were telling a story or embodying a character in a play.
- What more would you like to do with LSSO in terms of performance and composition?
I can’t wait to see how the orchestra responds to my work specifically – it will be so valuable to understand the specific strengths and personalities of the orchestra and learn alternative ways communicate my music in future pieces. One of the most important things, for me, in my compositional practice is writing music that the performers feel they can really engage with, and so I can’t wait to hear their feedback. More broadly, I love the LSSOs identity as an ensemble that celebrates new, adventurous music and is super supportive of young composers like myself, so can’t wait to see their future concerts!
Cover art: Mary Bull
