Presentation 3: Panel discussion: Where words fail, music speaks - composers in conversation

Dobrinka Tabakova

Dobrinka Tabakova was born in 1980 in the historic town of Plovidv, Bulgaria and lives in London. Her compositions have been performed at music festivals throughout Britain, in Bulgaria, Hong Kong, Russia and throughout Europe and the United States. She took a degree in composition studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London and, on graduating with distinction, was appointed Composition Fellow at the Guildhall, where she continued her activities as President of the Contemporary Music Society.

Iain Farrington

Iain Farrington has a busy and diverse career as a pianist, organist, composer and arranger. Iain has recently arranged works for various orchestras, including the Philharmonia, the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra with Abel Selaocoe.

Lucy Walker

In 2022, Lucy Walker was appointed Composer-in-Residence with St Martin’s Voices, the flagship professional vocal consort based at St-Martin-in-the-Fields, and, alongside, has won numerous high-profile commissions, including writing for the BBC Singers, VOCES8, The Sixteen, various UK Cathedral Choirs, and Anna Lapwood and the Choir of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Lucy’s works have been frequently broadcast on national radio, featured on commercial recordings, and are gaining popularity in performance across Europe and the US.

Gabriel Jackson

Gabriel Jackson is one of Britain’s foremost and most celebrated composers. His music is regularly performed, recorded and broadcast throughout Europe and North America. From 2010 to 2013 he was Associate Composer to the BBC Singers, producing a series of substantial pieces for the group including a virtuoso four-movement Choral Symphony.

Ben Nichols

Ben Nicholas is a conductor who is widely known for his performances of large-scale choral works, and for commissioning and premiering works by many of today’s leading composers. He was born in Norwich and was a chorister at Norwich Cathedral before holding the organ scholarships at Chichester Cathedral; Lincoln College, Oxford; and St Paul’s Cathedral. Currently Organist and Director of Music at Merton College, Oxford, he has toured extensively with Merton College Choir in the USA, Europe and the Far East.