MARTIN BUSSEY
Martin Bussey combines the roles of composer and conductor. His music often reflects his passion for voices but there is also a substantial catalogue of instrumental works, particularly for organ and piano. Much of Martin’s music reflects his strong interest in history and literature, and life in the borderlands between Cheshire, Shropshire and Wales. Recently he has been working on a work for tenor and piano reflecting the archaeological excavation of the Roman city of Uricon (Shropshire), and a cycle for baritone Damian O'Keeffe, setting the poetry of Thomas Merton for performance in Northern Cathedrals. (click on underlined links for more detail).
​
Both works are now complete and Martin is excited to begin his next project, Solitary Rose, exploring the character and poetry of Christina Rossetti.
Martin is published by Composers Edition and all scores are available there. Reductions are available for sets of choral music.
​
MAJOR WORKS
​​
Mary’s Hand, a one-woman show about Mary Tudor, was premiered in the summer of 2018 at Tete-a-tete Opera Festival to great critical acclaim. Created with Di Sherlock and mezzo-soprano Clare McCaldin, the staged work was described by The Independent as ‘outstanding’. It subsequently toured around the UK. It was followed in the 2020 festival by the audio-visual piece, Timeless Figure, inspired by clockmakers Joyce of Whitchurch, written for baritone Peter Edge. This was revived in November 2023 in Shropshire and Manchester to enthusiastic audiences.
2021 saw the premiere of a substantial commission from Pinner Music Festival, A Brother Abroad. Composed for baritone Marcus Farnsworth and three instrumentalists, this focuses on the 14th century Bishop Peter of Bologna, churchman, follower of Francis of Assisi and statesman. It explores how those roles could fit together without compromise. The work was repeated in 2022 at the Ludlow English Song Weekend, and in 2024 at Southwell Music Festival. At Southwell it was performed alongside two companion pieces with music drawn from the main work, for solo French horn, The Rites Observed, and solo flute, La Rossa. These works were premiered at Pinner Music Festival in 2024 and 2023 respectively. A Brother Abroad was released in December 2024 on the Resonus Classics label alongside the instrumental works and Martin’s cycles setting Emily Bronte, A Chainless Soul, performed by Alison Rose; and Walt Whitman, Children of Adam; with Libby Burgess as pianist in both cycles.
​
July 2022 saw the first performance of What the Dickens, an evening entertainment with original solo and choral settings of words by Dickens and his contemporaries, commissioned by the St Marylebone Festival.
Shropshire Lass, a semi-staged piece for soprano and guitar, sets the poetry of twentieth century Shropshire poet Mary Webb and received premiere performances in Shrewsbury, Malpas and Nantwich as part of the Marches Songbook Project in Autumn 2022. It was written for and premiered by the duo of Holly Teague and Michael Matthews.
Martin’s songs, choral and instrumental works have been broadcast on many occasions on BBC Radio 3 and performed at many venues including Wigmore Hall, The Barbican, Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room, RNCM, RCM and GSMD, and at Lake District Summer Music, Endellion, Southwell and Three Choirs Festivals.
Other recordings on Resonus Classics include Through a glass (2014), songs performed by Marcus Farnsworth and James Baillieu; and In no strange land (2019), a survey of Martin’s choral music sung by Sonoro, directed by Neil Ferris. The latter was described as ‘glorious’ in BBC Music Magazine.
Martin was a Choral Scholar at King’s College, Cambridge where he read Music, after which he studied as a post-graduate singer at the Royal Northern College of Music with Nicholas Powell. He ran the aural, academic music and choral programmes at Chetham’s School of Music from 1988 to 2013 and directed Chester Bach Singers for 38 years until 2025. He is a longstanding vocal tutor at Manchester University; Chairman of the Finzi Friends; a director of Ludlow English Song; and a trustee of Kantos Choir.
​
​
​