

Review: Birdsong (CD) - Roderick Williams (baritone) & Andrew West (piano)
MusicWeb International
September 2021
Featuring 'Four Songs from Hafez' by Sally Beamish
"This is a very fine set of songs and it’s hard to imagine that they could receive better advocacy than that which Roderick Williams and Andrew West provide." - John Quinn

Review: The King's Alchemist (CD) - Eblana String Trio
Ludwig Van
25 June 2021
✭✭✭✭
"Her tribute is both apt in its bagpipe hints and attractive in its lyrical momentum." - Norman Lebrecht

Interview: Distans
The Violin Channel
01 June 2021
"Both Janine and Martin have a powerful stage presence, and the idea of dance and drama is an important element, as well as the contrasts and similarities between the two solo instruments." - Sally Beamish
Sally spoke to The Violin Channel about her new double concerto Distans for violin and clarinet.

Interview: The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Frances Wilson 'The Cross-Eyed Pianist'
09 November 2020
“the alchemy between composer and performer is very important to me”
Sally shares some insights into her influences and inspirations, the pleasure of working on commissioned pieces, and how talking to audiences can help explain the creative processes involved in making music.

Review: Reed Stanzas - Elias String Quartet - Edinburgh International Festival 'Chamber Music Soundscapes'
The Scotsman
20 August 2020
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"...distant, ethereal atmospherics of Sally Beamish’s Reed Stanzas, its opening offstage incantation by Scots second violinist Donald Grant imbued with eerie folksiness, like a delicate touchpaper catalysing the airy, agile mysticism that ensued, illuminated by the crystalline lucidness of the full ensemble."
Ken Walton reviews the Elias String Quartet's Edinburgh International Festival 'Chamber Music Soundscapes' filmed concert, featuring 'Reed Stanzas', for The Scotsman

Review: Hover - Academy of St Martin in the Fields - Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
The Times
13 November 2019
"Harmonically bountiful, ever subtle"

Blog:'The Academy and I': composer and viola-player Sally Beamish on a special relationship
The Arts Desk
12 November 2019
"It’s inspiring for a composer to write for players she knows well" - Sally Beamish

Strong connections: Sally Beamish on her 60th anniversary piece for the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, & her personal links to the orchestra
Planet Hugill
12 November 2019
"She knew that the piece should really be a celebration, but when writing the music it came out as an elegy."

Review: Partita - Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble - South Mountain Concerts, Pittsfield, MA
In the Spotlight
05 October 2019
"Incorporating subtle quotes from Bach, Handel, and Mendelssohn respectively, its three short movements sparkled with grace and stylistic variety in this nimble performance."

Review: A Myndin' - Endellion String Quartet - Wigmore Hall, London
The Strad
16 July 2019
"Sally Beamish’s A Myndin’ is a beautiful, light-textured, gentle work"
Tim Homfray reviews Endellion String Quartet's 40th Anniversary concert at London's Wigmore Hall, featuring specially commissioned piece A Myndin'.

Review: A Myndin' - Endellion String Quartet - Wigmore Hall, London
The Guardian
29 May 2019
"weaves echoes of Scottish folk music into a beautiful study of memory and nostalgia that aspires to timelessness"
★ ★ ★ ★
Tim Ashley reviews Endellion String Quartet's 40th Anniversary concert at London's Wigmore Hall, featuring specially commissioned piece A Myndin'.

Review: Seavaigers - New Century Chamber Orchestra / Marwood / Crabb - San Francisco Conservatory of Music
San Francisco Classical Voice
06 November 2018
"Crabb and Marwood were worthy collaborators indeed"
Jessica Balik reviews the New Century Chamber Orchestra with soloists Anthony Marwood (violin) and James Crabb (accordion) for SFCV, including a performance of Seavaigers.

Review: The Little Mermaid - Northern Ballet - Milton Keynes Theatre
The Reviews Hub
19 April 2018
* * * *
"The 27 piece Northern Sinfonia orchestra truly does justice to Sally Beamish’s excellent score"
Maggie Constable reviews Northern Ballet's The Little Mermaid at Milton Keynes Theatre for The Reviews Hub.

Review: The Little Mermaid - Northern Ballet - Edinburgh Festival Theatre
Edinburgh Guide
24 March 2018
* * * *
"The Little Mermaid is a production saturated with talent and grace, from conception to execution."
Katie Stephen gives a 4-star review of Northern Ballet's 'The Little Mermaid' on EdinburghGuide.com

Review: The Little Mermaid - Northern Ballet - Edinburgh Festival Theatre
Herald Scotland
23 March 2018
* * * *
"Nixon’s choreography – like Beamish’s specially commissioned score – shifts persuasively between the fluidity of the undersea realm and the more grounded energies on land."
Mary Brennan give's Northern Ballet's 'The Little Mermaid' four stars in The Herald.

Review: The Little Mermaid - Northern Ballet - Leeds Grand Theatre
The Gay UK
07 December 2017
* * * *
"The original score (...) flits between the primarily light and playful to the romantic and finally to the dramatic, feeling cinematic and engaging"
Paul Szabo reviews The Little Mermaid at Leeds Grand Theatre for The Gay UK.

Review: The Judas Passion - Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment - St John's Smith Square, London
The Spectator
06 October 2017
Painted more shades of grey than a Farrow & Ball catalogue: The Judas Passion reviewed
Alexandra Coghlan reviews The Judas Passion, performed by Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at St John's Smith Square.

Review: The Judas Passion - Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment - St John's Smith Square, London
Bachtrack
27 September 2017
To the field of blood: Sally Beamish's The Judas Passion
* * * *
"In the 21st century, the secular resonances of this piece can't help but compel."
Benjamin Poore awards four stars to The Judas Passion, performed by Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at St John's Smith Square.

Review: The Tempest - Houston Ballet
Houston Chronicle
25 May 2017
Houston Ballet's 'Tempest' a sophisticated spectacle
"Bintley's choreography brings the complex elements of William Shakespeare's late-period romance evocatively into focus, without words, on the wings of Sally Beamish's atmospheric score and Rae Smith's riveting designs."
Molly Glentzer reviews Houston Ballet's US premiere of The Tempest.

Interview: The Tempest - Houston Ballet
Houston Chronicle
18 May 2017
Composer conjours aural magic for Houston Ballet's 'The Tempest'
"When Bintley discovered Beamish a few years ago, he knew he'd finally found a composer whose help could deliver all he imagined."
Molly Glentzer interviews Sally and director David Bintley ahead of the US premiere of The Tempest.

Review: Piano Concerto No. 3 City Stanzas - RSNO / Biss / Oundjian - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Herald Scotland
08 April 2017
****
"City Stanzas reminds us, with a quiet confidence, of the excitement (and importance) of music as response to the human condition"
Rosie Davies reviews the RSNO's Glasgow performance of Sally's third piano concerto City Stanzas, with soloist Jonathan Biss and conductor Peter Oundjian.

Review: Piano Concerto No. 3: City Stanzas - St Paul Chamber Orchestra / Biss / Santora - Ordway Concert Hall, St Paul, Minnesota
Minneapolis Star Tribune
20 January 2017
Politics shades Beamish concerto premiered by SPCO
"a punchy, pugnacious addition to the concerto repertoire and should travel successfully well beyond the Twin Cities"
Terry Blain reviews the world premiere of Sally's Piano Concerto No. 3 City Stanzas, performed by Jonathan Biss and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra under conductor Mischa Santora at Ordway Concert Hall, St Paul, Minnesota.

Review: Piano Concerto No. 3: City Stanzas - St Paul Chamber Orchestra / Biss / Santora - Ordway Concert Hall, St Paul, Minnesota
Twin Cities
20 January 2017
SPCO finds bliss with Biss, Beamish and Beethoven
Rob Hubbard reviews the world premiere of Sally's Piano Concerto No. 3 City Stanzas, performed by Jonathan Biss and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra under conductor Mischa Santora at Ordway Concert Hall, St Paul, Minnesota.

Review: Piano Concerto no. 2: Cauldron of the Speckled Seas - BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Dausgaard / Roscoe
Herald Scotland
10 December 2016
"one of the finest, and undiluted, celebrations of contemporary music it has been my delight to revel in over the last 30 years"
Michael Tumelty gives a glowing 5-star review to the BBC SSO's Scottish Inspirations concert at Glasgow City Halls with conductor Thomas Dausgaard, featuring Sally's Piano Concerto No 2: Cauldron of the Speckled Seas with pianist Martin Roscoe.

Interview: Why The Tempest is set to cause a storm in Sunderland
Sunderland Echo
14 September 2016
“I rarely make a full-length ballet without a new score. Quite often I have an idea and it connects with a composer.”
Katy Wheeler speaks to Birmingham Royal Ballet director David Bintley about new ballet The Tempest, with score by Sally Beamish.

Review: Merula Perpetua - BBC Proms
Classical Source
28 August 2016
Proms Chamber Music 7: Armida Quartett, Lise Berthaud, David Saudubray
It is strongly programmatic music with a personal connection to the late Peter Maxwell Davies"
Antony Hodgson reviews the final Proms Chamber Music concert of 2016, including the world premiere of Sally's Merula Perpetua.

Review: A Cage of Doves - BBC SO / Vedernikov - St Magnus Festival 2016
The Scotsman
26 June 2016
Pickacoy Centre, Kirkwall - St Magnus International Festival 2016
* * * *
Carol Main gives 4 stars to the BBC SO's performance at St Magnus International Festival under conductor Alexander Vedernikov - including Sally Beamish's 'A Cage of Doves'.

Feature: 'La Mer' - Hebrides Ensemble
The Scotsman
27 February 2016
"a magical rethink that unashamedly shrinks Debussy’s grand evocations down to a more intimate scale, but loses nothing of La Mer’s power and detail"
David Kettle gives a preview into the upcoming Hebrides Ensemble 'Impressions of th Sea' tour, and looks at Sally's piano trio arrangement of Debussy's La Mer

Review: 'Chaconne' - David Titterington
Classical Source
09 February 2016
Royal Festival Hall, London
"Atmospheric and scored with great originality, Chaconne and Titterington’s playing of it were hugely impressive"
Peter Reed reviews organist David Titterington's concert at the Royal Festival Hall, featuring the world premiere of Chaconne by Sally Beamish

Monthly Choice: 'The Singing' (CD)
BBC Music Magazine
01 December 2015
*****
"Sally Beamish has the Gaelic art of keening down to a fine art"
Paul Riley gives the new CD, featuring RSNO, NYOS and soloists Branford Marsalis, Håkan Hardenberger and James Crabb under conductor Martyn Brabbins, five stars in the December issue of BBC Music Magazine.

Review: 'The Singing' (CD)
The Classical Reviewer
31 October 2015
RSNO/NYOS/Brabbins
BIS Records
"The works on this new disc are outstanding as are the performances"
Bruce Reader reviews the new CD of orchestral works, featuring RSNO, NYOS and soloists Branford Marsalis, James Crabb and Håkan Hardenberger under conductor Martyn Brabbins.

Review: 'The Singing' (CD)
Financial Times
15 October 2015
"Each, potently conducted by Martyn Brabbins, lingers in the air after it is heard"
Richard Fairman reviews the new CD of orchestral works, featuring RSNO, NYOS and soloists Branford Marsalis, James Crabb and Håkan Hardenberger under conductor Martyn Brabbins.