Gavin Higgins
Gavin Higgins has been commissioned by ensembles including the BBC Symphony and London Philharmonic orchestras and is a former RPS award nominee. His opera The Monstrous Child, based on Francesca Simon’s novel, will open the Royal Opera House’s newly refurbished Linbury Theatre from 21 February – 3 March.
Composing is something I wanted to do from a young age. At school in Manchester I found out about a ballet production of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring down the road. I didn’t know much classical music, but I knew about the Rite because of Disney’s Fantasia. A friend and I sneaked out of school and got tickets to see it. I le that theatre knowing I wanted to be a composer and to write for the stage.
So, I’ve been thinking about writing an opera for a long time. It’s a place where I feel very comfortable – I like working with choreographers and librettists.
It’s a lonely life being a composer – you spend a lot of time having conversations with yourself. When you collaborate, though, you’re sharing that creative burden and having conversations out loud with people who have di erent perspectives.
My new chamber opera The Monstrous Child is a coming-ofage story.
It’s about an odd, out-of-place teenage girl who’s half-alive,
half-corpse. She’s forced into a situation she doesn’t want to be in, and we see her coming to terms with who she is and learning to be a better person. It’s been a challenge to portray the story’s huge themes with a smallscale ensemble, but I think we’ve pulled it o .
I’ve only recently adopted a composing routine.
I used to compose only a er it got dark, but that all changed when I managed for the first time to work somewhere that wasn’t my bedroom! Now I walk my dog through the park in the morning, have a co ee and try to get to my desk for 9. Those first three hours of the day are so important.
I’ve just finished a trombone concerto, The Book of Miracles, for the BBC SO.
It’s being premiered a week before the opera by the BBC Symphony’s principal trombonist Helen Vollam. It’s her first concert with the orchestra and she’s such a brilliant performer. I really want to show o her playing as much as I can.