Britten Sinfonia . Clark Rundell

The work of Nico Muhly (1981), America's most important up-and-coming composer, was first heard in deSingel in April 2012. To follow that, we are now presenting him in a double bill with John Adams. On the music stands for this world premiere are the orchestral parts for the double concerto Muhly wrote for master percussionist Colin Currie and the winner of the Tromp International Percussion Competition 2012 (as yet unknown). Also on the programme is Muhly's 'Seeing is believing', a concerto for six-string electric violin. Thomas Gould's brilliant recording of this has recently been issued on CD. In this concert, Muhly's music is set off by two key works by John Adams, who in 2007 devoted an entire festival at the Carnegie Hall to Muhly. Since then, Muhly's career has rocketed. Seen as 'the saviour of classical music', he has produced fine arrangements for Antony and The Johnsons, and Jonsi, and wrote the soundtrack for the Oscar-winning 'The Reader' (with Kate Winslet). His first opera, 'Two Boys', commissioned by the English National Opera and the New York Metropolitan, hit the stage in 2007.