The Commission for New and Old Art presents: I Am Nobody

Programme

• Daiken when the cross… (1994)
• Goehr Three Piano Pieces (1964)
• Anderson I’m Nobody (1995)
• Daiken Viola Sonata (1977)
• Birtwistle The Mouse Felt … (2005)
• Takemitsu Hika (1966)

Performers
Roderick Chadwick – Piano
Nathaniel Sullivan – Voice
Peter Sheppard Skærved – Violin/ Viola
Lydia Phillips – Reader

Performer biographies

Roderick Chadwick is a pianist, teacher and writer on music. Described by the Sunday Times as “possessor of devastating musicality and technique”, he has performed some of the most challenging works for the instrument, including Lachenmann’s Serynade at the inaugural London Contemporary Music Festival, and the first complete performance of Jeremy Dale Roberts’s Tombeau since its 1969 premiere at the hands of Stephen Kovacevich. He attended Chetham’s School in Manchester in the 1980s, studying with Heather Slade-Lipkin, and later moved to London to learn with Hamish Milne. He lives in South London and is Reader in Music at the Royal Academy of Music.

Nathaniel Sullivan (pictured below) is an NYC-based vocalist, performer, and writer. An “alert and highly musical baritone” (Opera News), Nathaniel Sullivan infuses his work with “impressive strength and precision” (Schmopera), as well as “great eloquence” and “allegiance to both music and words” (ConcertoNet). Upcoming appearances include a residency at the Yellow Barn Summer Festival, where he will perform repertoire of Schubert, Rihm, Saariaho, Schoenberg, Aperghis, and Bach; reprising the role of the King in George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (a role he first performed in the North American premiere of the opera at the Tanglewood Music Center in 2022); and recital appearances with the Brooklyn Art Song Society, Lyric Fest, Concerts on the Slope, and the Riverview Chamber Series. Recent performance highlights include the role of Jochanaan in Salome with Heartbeat Opera and with West Bay Opera; the role of The Mark in the world premiere of Constance: A Confession with Experiments in Opera; and solo appearances in Bach’s Mass in B Minor with Abendmusik, in Ned Rorem’s Evidence of Things Not Seen with the Brooklyn Art Song Society, and in the premieres of Terre Johnson’s Te Deum and Marc-André Bougie’s Stabat Mater at Carnegie Hall. Nathaniel was one of seven winners of the 2023 Astral Artists National Competition and has been awarded the Grace B. Jackson Prize for exceptional service at Tanglewood (2019); Third Place in the Washington International Competition (2023), the Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Solo Competition (2019), and the Orpheus Vocal Competition (2019); and First Place in the NATS National Musical Theatre Competition (2018).

Peter Sheppard Skærved is acclaimed internationally for performances of a vast range of solo repertoire. His repertoire stretches from the late 16th century to hundreds of works written for him: these include major works by composers by established ‘greats’ such as Hans Werner Henze and George Rochberg, to the many young composers with whom he collaborates worldwide. Peter is a Grammy-nominated recording artist, with over one hundred critically acclaimed albums to his name. He is Honorary Professor at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, London, and visiting Research Fellow of Goldsmiths, University of London.

Lydia Phillips is an actor, musician and writer based in Manchester. She often improvises, normally playing the horn, harmonium and electronics. She has performed at venues across the North West including The White Hotel and the Bolton Socialist Club. Recent credits include Bow Down (2026) which was mounted at the Black Lights Festival in June 2026. She is a member of the Commission for New Art.

This concert is made possible by a grant from the Vaughan Williams Foundation.