The six new compositions will premiere at a special BBC Proms event in Nottingham on Saturday 7 September, and will also be recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Over the past year, the UCL East Community and Cultural Engagement team, via the East Bank partnership with the BBC, have been working with the BBC Proms team on their BBC Young Composer programme, a national competition where 12-18 year-olds compose a 5-minute piece for the BBC Concert Orchestra to perform at the Proms.
Inspiration for the compositions was provided by Luke Jerram’s Gaia globe artwork and by the soundscapes recorded by UCL People and Nature Lab academics working on the BiomeHealth Project in Kenya, Nepal, Borneo and Indonesia.
The conductor for the performances will be Hugh Brunt. The Young Composers, mentored by composers Gavin Higgins and Helen Grime, are:
Pascal Bachmann
Atharv Gupta
Avram Harris
Advaith Jagannath
Reese Carly Manglicmot
Jamie Smith
Through the East Bank partnership, UCL is continuing to work with the BBC team to develop a sound installation for the exhibition spaces on Level 1 of UCL East's Marshgate Building, to coincide with COP29 in Baku in Azerbaijan, as well as other climate-focused public programming.
Find out more about our UCL Gaia Public Programme