Eleanor Alberga is a composer who has created fascinating work. She was born in Jamaica in 1949. She first was a concert pianist but then went on to become a composer.  I first came across her last Summer when I played the First violin part of her orchestral soundtrack to Roald Dahl’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. This is an excerpt, my favourite section, below:

I remember sight reading this piece through with our youth orchestra for the first time, and becoming awe struck with it. Even through the players fumbling’s and wrong notes, as we struggled to play this very complex music, the harmonies that were being painted out and the melodies made me feel as if I had been transported into a beautiful, fairy tale land. We had the pleasure of actually working with Alberga, as she sat in on rehearsals and attended a performance in the Czech republic.

Alberga has a very distinct fingerprint. One, which I think is very unique. You can hear a modern approach to writing, that throws out a lot of traditional classical rules. If I would summarise her approach, it would be rhythm and atmosphere. She is a fantastic modern composer worth celebrating !