JAM Composer Residencies 2026

Most composer development opportunities are one of two things: a commission, or a workshop of a piece that is already sketched or finished. JAM’s residencies are much more than that. They give a composer the place and the space to create: a cottage on the shingle at Littlestone, the English Channel filling the windows, and a player in the room from the first sketch. Composers have always gone to the sea: Debussy for its colour, Britten for its weather, Vaughan Williams for its distances. We went for the quiet, and for the sense that a day here is longer than a day in London.

In 2026, as Residency Director, I led two residencies at Littlestone. In April, three talented composers spent a weekend writing for the piano; in May, three more spent a full week writing for the accordion. Nothing else in the UK offers this combination: time away to develop an idea properly, a professional performer in the room to try it out, and mentoring from people who write and programme new music for a living. The works were workshopped afterwards and given a professional premiere.

April: Sound Under the Hand

A residential weekend at the instrument itself, with resonance, pedalling and colour explored in direct dialogue with the pianist. Will Frampton, Margarida Gonçalves and Elif Nur Karlıdağ each wrote a new five-minute work for solo piano for Thomas Kelly, JAM Associate Artist. Lead tutor: John Frederick Hudson.

May: Into the Bellows

A full week on the Marsh writing for an instrument that breathes. Zhenyan Li, George W. Parris and Noah Max each wrote a work of up to fifteen minutes for accordionist Ryan Corbett, JAM Associate Artist and the first accordionist chosen as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist. Lead tutor: Paul Mealor LVO; tutor: John Frederick Hudson. The three works were first heard at JAM on the Marsh in July. Hear Ryan Corbett play →

The concert: 6 November 2026

The year’s residencies culminate in one evening at the VOCES8 Centre, St Anne and St Agnes, Gresham Street, London: three world premieres for piano and three London premieres for accordion.

Thomas Kelly, piano

• Will Frampton — In Tension (world premiere)
• Margarida Gonçalves — Littlestone (world premiere)
• Elif Nur Karlıdağ — April 18 in Five Studies (world premiere)

Ryan Corbett, accordion

• Zhenyan Li — The Tides, the Bones (London premiere)
• George W. Parris — Cockle (London premiere)
• Noah Max — Blindness, Op. 68, remembering Jorge Luis Borges (London premiere)

Friday 6 November 2026, 7pm. Book tickets →