Frontiers and Bridges
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Frontiers and Bridges happened because three very different composers became friends and decided to record their music together.

As composition students at Edinburgh University, Anothai, Kim and Julian were founder members of the Intercultural Ensemble led by the English composer Nigel Osborne. This loose association of international composers and musicians shared an inclusive and collaborative approach to the music of disparate cultures and nations, and these varied influences co-existed within the ensemble as equal partners.

The idea of a recording originated with Julian. It seemed that there was something in this "intercultural" school of composition at Edinburgh which was worth capturing for posterity, and so the Frontiers and Bridges recording project was born. With the support of various charitable organisations and individuals, a total of eight professional musicians were engaged on the project, along with the considerable recording talents of Mr Calum Malcolm. The jigsaw was complete when Circular Records came on board with a commitment to release the recordings in 2007.

On a first listen, the three pieces featured on the album may appear to have little to connect them. However, what they share is an urgent need to scrutinise the nature of cultural frontiers - be they between east and west, music and language, "high" and "low" art, the ancient and the modern - and to challenge and subvert them wherever necessary.

It is, perhaps, emblematic of the cultural age in which we live that works as diverse as the three presented on Frontiers and Bridges can co-exist happily on a single CD. The underlying message which they have in common is, we believe, more powerful than any superficial difference.

Album Credits
Recorded by Calum Malcolm
Produced by Calum Malcolm and Julian Wagstaff
Frontiers and Bridges artwork by Lorna Bruce
Layout by Laura Cameron
Web design by Pete Rix

Sincere thanks to: The Cross Trust, the Hope Scott Trust, the Lynn Foundation, Peter and Judy Semper, Calton Younger. And a huge thanks to everyone at Circular.