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history
The LCMG was formed in 2004 by Alastair Cameron. With the aim of bringing contemporary classical music to a wider audience the ensemble has been moving from strength to strength.
Since the middle of the 20th Century the Art Music world has expanded to include influences from all genres of music and from all cultures around the world. It is the aim of the LCMG to explore this diversity and to encourage the constant expansion of musical ideas whilst providing a platform for these ideas to be expressed on the concert stage.
As well as existing contemporary repertoire the LCMG also works with new composers from around the world introducing an array of new and exiting works to our audiences. Through a series of lecture-recitals and pre-concert talks the LCMG introduces not just the music but also the composers allowing audiences to learn more about their work and the creative impetus behind contemporary music making.
When we first started out we found it useful to have a definition for contemporary music:
Contemporary: adj. & n.(person) belonging to the same time; (Person) equal in age; (newspaper) published during the same period.*
Music: Art of combining sounds for reproduction by the voice or various kinds of musical instruments in rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic form so as to express thought or feelings and effect the emotions...
When asking 'What is contemporary music?' one is faced with two almost indefinable terms, how are we to define contemporary? Are we to take it as the work of only living musicians, at the instant of death does a composer suddenly become an historic figure from a by-gone age no longer able to communicate directly with those who though once contemporaries have now moved on to the future?
Either that or shall we define contemporary simply as 'recent'. In which case, how recent? Should we say the last 10 years, 40 years, 60 years? Once again we are faced with an arbitrary line in the sand separating 'The Old' from 'The New'. An entirely fictional distinction within what is a constant evolution of musical thought into imposed Era's.
If it is impossible to say specifically what we term contemporary then a precise definition of music proves even more elusive. If we take the seemingly all inclusive definition of 'Organised Sound' then we need only look to John Cage's well known piece 4'33'' for an exception as the only pre-organised factor in the work is in fact the absence of sound with that which is audible being entirely dependent on uncontrolled factors.
Whilst this may seem like pointless wordplay it is a question we face more and more in the current artistic climate, where contemporary music encompasses a wealth of genres from electronically created Sonic Sculptures to World Music, Jazz, Orchestral and a variety of other forms.
As a primarily orchestral/instrumental organisation the LCMG is most often involved in a fairly clear cut sub-genre of contemporary music but the boundaries are still blurred with contemporary orchestral/instrumental music taking inspiration from many other forms and the increasing use of electronics and other creative media expanding the traditional view of what music may be.
* The Oxford Illustrated Dictionary (1962)