In the 18 months since she took the plunge and took up composing as a professional career, Helen MacKinnon from Perth has begun to carve an international reputation.
Now Helen, 37, is one of several international composers to be selected to feature on a choral compilation album to be released in 2018.
Earlier this year, the local composer signed as an artist with the New Hampshire audio production company PARMA Recordings in the USA.
The new choral album will showcase contemporary composers and feature Helen’s award-winning setting of Gloria in excelsis Deo for mixed voice choir.
The venture saw the composer travel to the Czech Republic this month to record her music with the Prague Mixed Chamber Choir under the direction of Jiří Petrdlík, one of the most respected European conductors of his generation.
The choir, which specialises in contemporary classical music and rehearses at Prague State Opera, will take the Perth composer’s piece into their repertoire and perform it during the year to come.
Helen’s Gloria in excelsis Deo has already achieved international acclaim – in 2015, the work was recognised by film composer and Academy Award winner Ennio Morricone and his panel of eminent composers at the International Competition of Choral Composition Ennio Morricone in Florence.
The commendation saw Helen travel to Italy to represent Scotland at the awards ceremony.
Speaking of her latest venture Helen said: “I’m delighted to be part of this exciting venture with PARMA Recordings.
“It was a fantastic experience to work with such talented musicians and a skilled recording team in Prague, and to see this choral work brought to life.”
A music graduate of the University of Glasgow, she worked with community choirs, orchestras and ensembles across Tayside as a composer and arranger before deciding to become a professional composer.
She has already received commissions from across the UK and had a European premiere of her work in Italy this summer.
