PF2023 Brochure - Flipbook - Page 5
McDowall’s large-scale choral work, the Da
Vinci Requiem, to coincide with the 500th
anniversary of Leonardo’s death.
Cecilia McDowall holds Honorary Doctorates
from Portsmouth and West London universities
and, in 2017, was selected as an Honorary
Fellow by the Royal School of Church Music.
Three Latin Motets was recorded for Chandos
by the Phoenix Chorale under Charles Bruffy;
the disc, Spotless Rose, won a Grammy award
and was nominated for ‘Best Classical Album’.
In 2021, Naxos released a disc of her entire
organ catalogue performed by William Fox,
sub-organist of St Paul’s Cathedral.
This was followed by a recording of her
sacred music from the Choir of Trinity
College, Cambridge under Stephen
Layton, released on the Hyperion
label. Both discs received five-star
reviews in Choir & Organ and much
critical acclaim elsewhere. Cecilia’s
works are regularly broadcast on BBC
Radio and a huge proportion of her
worklist is readily available on CD.
In December 2020, The Ivors Academy
awarded Cecilia the prestigious Ivor
Novello Award for Outstanding Works
KEY WORKS
Da Vinci Requiem (2019)
Kate Royal / Roderick Williams / Wimbledon Choral Society / Philharmonia Orchestra
Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo (2018)
National Children’s Choir of Great Britain
When time is broke (2016)
BBC Singers
Night Flight (2014)
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge
O Oriens (2012)
Choir of Merton College, Oxford
Seventy Degrees below Zero (2012)
Robert Murray, tenor / City of London Sinfonia
Radnor Songs (2011)
Rachel Nicholls, soprano / Orchestra Nova
Rain, steam and speed (2006)
London Mozart Players
The Moon Dances (2003)
Susan Milan, flute / Ian Brown, piano
Ave maris stella (2001)
Portsmouth Chamber Choir / London Mozart Players
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Collection. This award recognises a British
composer who has written a consistently
exceptional body of classical compositions
and was a ‘Gift’ from The Ivors Academy
(formerly the British Composers’ Academy).
Cecilia has had a long and happy
relationship with the Presteigne Festival,
which began commissioning and
premiering her music in 2002, when
she was ‘Associate Composer’. The
Festival is extremely pleased that Cecilia
accepted the invitation to be composerin-residence in this special year, as part
of her seventieth birthday celebrations.
