In March there will be several major performances of works by Hugh Wood, who celebrates his 70th birthday later this year. Hugh Wood is widely regarded as one of the most important British composers of his generation, though his music has been somewhat neglected by concert programmers. The Royal College of Music presents a 'Hugh Wood' day on 7 March, with an afternoon concert comprising his 2nd string quartet and his Song Cycle to Poems of Pablo Neruda; in the evening the Chilingirians will join the RCM Orchestra and conductor Neil Thomson in the London Premiere of his poignant and emotionally charged Serenade and Elegy. On the 22nd of the month, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Davis, will perform his 'Scenes From Comus' (released last year on CD by NMC) at the Barbican. The vocal soloists will be Susan Gritton and William Burden.
