Nyman Returns

1st April 2007

"I am overjoyed to resume my creative partnership with Chester Music." With that said, on 14 January, Michael Nyman signed an exclusive publishing agreement with Chester Music Ltd., and re-established a long-standing composer-publisher relationship. "It is a huge pleasure to welcome Michael back to Chester," added James Rushton, Managing Director of Chester Music. "The music of Michael Nyman has established itself as one of the defining sound worlds of the international music scene over the past 30 years. Michael's energetic quest for new challenges, collaborations and contexts in which to create music never ceases to amaze. We are very excited by the potential for new projects over the coming years and look forward to supporting him via our media and concert teams worldwide."

Nyman's return to Chester Music brings along the acquisition of his recent catalogue, which includes the film score for The Libertine (starring Johnny Depp); the chamber opera Love Counts (for the Almeida Theatre); and the percussion concerto gdm, composed for soloist Colin Currie. Nyman recently created his own recording label mn records, which features his acclaimed film scores to The Piano; The Cook, the Thief, the Wife and her Lover; and Prospero's Books, as well as numerous concert works including Six Celan Songs, In Re Don Giovanni, and the operas Man and Boy: Dada and Love Counts (released in March 2007). NM Records is distributed in the US by Naxos.

Nyman's latest orchestral premiere — A Handshake in the Dark —premiered on 8 March by the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra at London's Barbican Hall. The 30-minute piece is based on Iraqi poet Jamal Juma's powerful antiwar poem "Letters to my Brother," which was written during the first Gulf War.

www.michaelnyman.com
www.mnrecords.com