The National Youth Choir, in partnership with NMC Recordings, is proud to announce the release of the seventh recording in the Young Composers series.

The series, now in its seventh year, showcases the talents of emerging young composers, supporting their professional artistry and promoting new choral music through professional releases.

This year’s recording highlights the incredible talent of Fraz Ireland, Ryan Morgan, Esther Bersweden, and Kornélia Nemcová, the National Youth Choir Young Composers for 2025. Each composer has contributed two original pieces to this collection, which were performed by the National Youth Choir (18-25 Years) and the National Youth Choir Fellowship Ensemble.

Fraz Ireland opens with 400 Ways to Make a Sandwich, a playful 1950s-inspired homage to a 1909 recipe book, full of charm, brass 
colour, and humour. In Kite, Ireland turns introspective, weaving floating melodies and shifting harmonies to evoke the bittersweet passing of time.

Kornélia Nemcová contributes two deeply narrative works. What She Carried is an intimate, haunting portrait of a mother faced with an 
impossible choice, framed by a Slovak lullaby. By contrast, That’s Where the Dog Is Buried transforms a Slovak idiom into a comic detective tale, full of playful dialogue and theatrical wit.

Esther Bersweden’s pieces bring motion and fantasy to life. Down Hill on a Bicycle captures exhilaration through inventive vocal sound effects, while The Mock Turtle’s Song animates Lewis Carroll’s world with swung rhythms, jazzy harmonies, and barbershop-style writing.

Ryan Morgan explores heritage and creativity. OBEAH draws it's text from colonial records in a ritual of memory, while Permission to Play celebrates the joy, freedom, and imagination of play.

At the heart of the creative process has been collaboration - working with each other, National Youth Choir singers, staff and NMC partners. National Youth Choir are very grateful to everyone who has supported this process including Joanna Marsh (lead mentor), in addition to guest mentors Huw Watkins, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Helen Neeves and Owain Park.

National Youth Choir and NMC Recordings have the shared ethos of supporting emerging professional artists: enabling new choral music and promoting it through professional releases. The success of the Young Composers albums has gone from strength to strength, and the catalogue continues to grow annually. 

Performers and Recording Team

The recording brings together the outstanding efforts of the following groups and individuals:

• National Youth Choir (18-25 Years): Nicholas Chalmers (Conductor) - Tracks 1, 3, 5, 7
• Fellowship Ensemble: Tracks 2, 4, 6, 8
  • Ailsa Campbell (Soprano)
  • Kwan Ruangtrakool (Soprano)
  • Peter Hicks (Countertenor)
  • Megan Webb (Alto)
  • Chris O'Leary (Tenor)
  • Andrew Moore (Tenor)
  • Josh Quinlan (Baritone)
  • Freddie Crowley (Bass)
  • Emily Dickens (Conductor)
• Production Team
  • Album:
    • Album Producer: Josh Quinlan
    • Mastering Engineer: David Jones 
  • Tracks 1, 3, 5 & 7:
    
    • Audio Producer: Josh Quinlan
    • Recording Engineer & Editor: David Jones
  • Tracks 2, 4, 6 & 8:
    • Audio Producer: Ben Parry
    • Recording Engineer: Stefano Civetta
    • Assistant Recording Engineer: Hester James
    • Editor & Mix Engineer: Josh Quinlan

We are grateful to our Emerging Professional Artist programme partners and supporters: ABRSM, Steinberg Media Technologies (Dorico), Stainer & Bell, NMC Recordings, Britten Pears Arts, The D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, The Fenton Arts Trust, The Idlewild Trust, The Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust, Vaughan Williams Foundation, Making Music and AOTOS (Association of Teachers of Singing). Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.  

The recording was completed at School Farm Studios in October 2025, with special thanks to Audio Network, Andrew Sunnucks, and the School Farm Studios team for their generous support and collaboration.