Andrew Webb-Mitchell

Andrew Webb-Mitchell made his professional debut as a composer with Song Symphony, composed to a libretto by British poet Joanna Boulter. The work was recorded in 2011 at the Besední dům by the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Mikel Toms. The following year, one of its movements, The Inspiration of Night, received its première at the Tianjin Grand Theatre, performed by Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé Orchestra. Additional movements from the symphony were later featured in the concluding gala concert of the 2014 Beijing Modern Music Festival, given by the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra.

Webb-Mitchell’s Liber Regalis constitutes a series of orchestral compositions written in celebration of the British Monarchy. Koh-i-Noor, Mountain of Light was premièred in December 2016 by the Russian National Orchestra, under the baton of Thomas Sanderling, during the inaugural concerts marking the opening of the Zhuhai Opera House. The composer intends to expand this collection throughout his career. 

The world première of Webb-Mitchell’s Violin Concerto took place in April 2018 at the Gürzenich Hall in Cologne, with the Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Volker Hartung. This event led to an enduring association with the orchestra, which subsequently premièred his symphonic tone poem Night of Sevens at the Changsha Concert Hall in September 2019, prior to a ten-city tour across China. The composition was warmly received by Chinese audiences, in part owing to the composer’s incorporation of a Song Dynasty poem sung in the original Mandarin. A radio programme featuring a performance of the work and an interview with the composer was thereafter broadcast on Wenzhou Radio and China Radio International.

Born in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, in 1970, Webb-Mitchell lived and worked in China for an extended period, during which he established the Webb-Mitchell Centre for Choral Studies and directed the Zhuhai Classical Children’s Choir. The choir made its début in 2015 alongside Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and has since emerged as one of Asia’s pre-eminent choral ensembles. Recent performances include collaborations with the Russian National Orchestra under Thomas Sanderling, Sinfonietta Cracovia conducted by Jurek Dybał, the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra under Rico Saccani, and the Cologne New Philharmonic under Volker Hartung. The ensemble has appeared at many of China’s most distinguished concert halls, including the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where a concert was subsequently broadcast on China Central Television. In December 2023, Webb-Mitchell’s Piano Concerto was premièred by Irish pianist Barry Douglas with the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra during a nationwide tour of China. 

Webb-Mitchell’s latest projects include preparations to release a recording of The Transit of Venus, his settings of Shakespeare sonnets, with British pianist John Lenehan and Chinese soprano Constanze Xue. He is currently composing Icons, a collection of dramatic scenas for voice and orchestra setting iconic British speeches that changed the course of history. His music is published by Universal Edition, Vienna.

He currently resides in Spain, where he has established the Marbella Classical Children’s Choir.