Cancer claims UK composer, 60
RIPThe death has been communicated of James Whitbourn, internationally performed choral composer, conductor and BBC television producer. He produced Carols from Kings for three decades and was executive producer for Covent Garden’s label, Opus Arte.
His largest composition is the concert-length choral work Annelies, the first major choral setting of The Diary of Anne Frank. Other notable works include Luminosity, written for Westminster Choir College and the Archedream dance ensemble, the Son of God Mass for saxophone, choir and organ and The Seven Heavens for choir and orchestra – a portrayal of the life of C. S. Lewis in the imagery of the medieval planets.
In recent years, he returned to the University of Oxford as a Fellow and Director of Music at St Edmund Hall, Senior Research Fellow at St Stephen’s House, Director of Music at Harris Manchester College, and a member of the Faculty of Music.
Shame- a good composer & yet another musician leaving us far too young. I liked his composition ‘Luminosity’- which reached the Classic FM charts- with my friend Levine Andrade on Viola (who also passed away before his time0.
Very sad, isn’t it Mark? I attended a local funeral not far away, in Dorset yesterday, and the lady Vicar read a Poem ‘He only Takes the Best’. These composers truly are the very best ! Kathy