Dani Howard Orchestral Works—Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Michael Seal & Pablo Urbina; Peter Moore, trombone (Rubicon 1125)
This is the debut album of English composer Dani Howard. Who? Dani Howard (born 1993) is originally from Hong Kong, but attended the Royal College of Music between 2011 and 2015. Since graduating, she has worked with orchestras including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Southbank Sinfonia, and Orchestra Vitae in England. In 2017, she was selected by Britain’s ClassicFM to write a new work celebrating the 25th anniversary of the classical music radio station. Her orchestral piece Argentum (Silver) was premiered by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall in September 2017 and it’s one of five works on the album. Irish-born, 20-something Peter Moore is soloist the the 30-something composer’s Trombone Concerto. Three other orchestral works round out the program: Ellipsis (commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic), Coalescence, and Arches (commissioned for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death). These are beautiful, colorful and confident-sounding pieces from a new voice in classical music.