Nigel Hess’s 8-minute orchestral opener, A Christmas Overture, is continuing to rack up performances this festive season.  Since John Rutter commissioned the work in 2008, A Christmas Overture has become popular with orchestras worldwide. The New York Philharmonic will be giving two performances of it at the Lincoln Center, New York, USA (20 & 21 December ) for their 2013 holiday season, and a further three performances will take place in the USA. The Philharmonisches Orchester Hagen will be performing the work in Germany and UK performances include dates by the likes of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

The piece also now exists in versions for brass band, and wind band. The latter was recently given its premiere recording on the Chandos release “New London Pictures”, in performance by The Central Band of the Royal Air Force under the composer’s baton.  A number of tracks from the album have already made it onto the playlist of Classic FM, the UK’s largest commercial radio station.