Two Piers Hellawell premieres take place in Belfast and Sweden

A single week in February 2013 sees two Piers Hellawell premieres, in different countries, with the same artist - celebrated cellist/conductor Paul Watkins.

The Belfast Music Society has commissioned the Belfast-based composer’s atria for cello and piano for the opening recital in their international Chamber Music Festival, on 21 February; Paul will be partnered by his pianist-composer brother Huw Watkins.

On 28 February in Örebro, Sweden, Paul Watkins will conduct the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Stockholm Chamber Brass in Syzygy, described by the composer as his “latest and most experimental exploration of the concertante medium”. The work was commissioned by the artists, and supported by a Leverhulme Fellowship in 2011.