Editing Andrew Downes (composer) (section)

== Career ==
In addition to live performances, Downes' music has been broadcast on [[BBC Radio]]s 2, 3,<ref name="CzechMate">{{cite news |first=Christopher |last=Morley |title=Culture – Andrew on song with Czech mate |work=[[Birmingham Post]] |page=16 |date=28 February 2002}}</ref> and 4, [[BBC TV]], [[France Musique]], Italian TV, Austrian Radio, Dutch Radio,<ref name="CzechMate"/> Czech Radio, and Central Peking Radio. Seventeen CDs have been made of his music.

He composed ''The Marshes of Glynn'' for the Royal opening of the [[Adrian Boult Hall]] in Birmingham in 1986,<ref name="Composers Alliance" /><ref name="NewDawn">{{cite news |first=Terry |last=Grimley |title=Millennium is a new dawn for Birmingham composer |work=Birmingham Post |page=13 |date=17 February 2000 }}</ref> and his ''Centenary Fire Dances'' were first performed for the City of Birmingham's Centenary Festival of Fireworks and Music.<ref name="Composers Alliance" /><ref name="NewDawn"/> He wrote an ''Overture'' for the [[Three Choirs Festival]]. His vocal music includes songs for the [[Cantamus Girls Choir]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Such an evocative evening |work=Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph |date=25 May 1999 }}</ref> song cycles for [[Sarah Walker (opera singer)|Sarah Walker]] and the tenor John Mitchinson broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and anthems for the BBC 4 Daily Service.<ref name="Composers Alliance" />

He composed music for horns, including ''Sonata for Eight Horns'' for the Horn Octet of the [[University of New Mexico]] and ''Suite for Six Horns'' for the Vienna Horn Society. After a successful recording of ''Sonata for Eight Horns'' by hornists of the [[Czech Philharmonic Orchestra]], Downes was commissioned to write ''Concerto for four Horns and Orchestra'' for the orchestra,<ref name="Composers Alliance" /><ref name="CzechMate"/> played at the Dvorak Hall in Prague in February and March 2002.<ref name="Composers Alliance" /><ref name="CzechMate"/> In March 2003 the work was recorded for broadcast by [[Czech Radio]]. In 2005, Downes returned to Prague hear the Czech Philharmonic Horns play his ''Five Dramatic Pieces for Eight Wagner Tubas''.<ref name="Composers Alliance" />

Downes composed ''Song of the Eagle'' for the [[James Madison University]] Flute Choir of Virginia,<ref name="NewDawn"/> and ''Concerto for Two Pianos'' for the Duo Scaramouche, ''Sonata for Eight Pianists'' for soloists from France, Italy and Britain.<ref name="Composers Alliance" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Perfect eight |work=Birmingham Evening Mail |page=8 |date=2 December 2000}}</ref> He wrote ''Mela Kamavardhani'' for Indo-Jazz Fusions musicians in Calcutta, Delhi, and Bombay, and ''Fanfare for Madam Speaker'' for the installation of [[Betty Boothroyd]] MP as Chancellor of the [[Open University]] in 1994.<ref name="Composers Alliance" /> Instrumental music included ''Concerto for Two Guitars'' written for Simon Dinnigan and [[Fred Thelonious Baker|Fred T. Baker]] playing with strings from the [[City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra]],<ref name="Composers Alliance" /><ref name="NewDawn"/> the ''Concert Overture Towards a New Age'' commissioned for the 150th anniversary of the [[British Institution of Mechanical Engineers]],<ref name="Composers Alliance" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Overture to a Celebration |work=Professional Engineering |publisher=Institution of Mechanical Engineers |page=52 |date=26 February 1997}}</ref> which was premiered at the [[Symphony Hall, Birmingham|Symphony Hall]], Birmingham, by the [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]], and ''Suite for Brass Sextet'' written for the Czech Philharmonic Brass Sextet.<ref name="Composers Alliance" />