Leeds premiere for award-winning composer

Her song cycle One Life Stand , with words by poet Sophie Hannah is a response to Robert Schumann's 1840 song cycle Frauenliebe und Leben (A Woman's Life and Loves) . It will receive its premiere at the Howard Assembly Rooms of Opera North on Tuesday 11 October, at 7.30pm. One Life Stand tells Schumann's story of love, death and longing in an entirely new way. The music gently unpicks Schumann's original songs and puts them back together in a completely unique style. Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston sings both Schumann's songs and Frances-Hoad's response to them - and the performance will followed by a discussion and question and answer session between composer, writer and singer. It is the latest work by Frances-Hoad, Cultural Fellow in Operatic Composition at the University of Leeds. Her work has been widely performed both in the UK and overseas, winning critical acclaim and a string of awards - including two at the prestigious 2010 BASCA British Composer Awards.