• The British Clarinet Ensemble are to include Jiggery-pokery Simon's piece for clarinet choir in their new CD of British music for clarinet choir to be released later in 2008

• Corridor Sketches , a new piece for strings was performed at a concert to celebrate the work of Phil Barrett, the art teacher at the Purcell School on 30 June 2008 . The piece entailed the audience being led around the New Music Building while Simon directed 24 players placed in corridors, stairwells, doorways and adjacent rooms. The work is a preliminary sketch for a larger work related to rivers and tributaries to be performed by professional and student players in October.

• Simon has been commissioned to write a wind quintet as part of the Music in The village series in Walthamstow for November 2008. Current progress on the piece suggests that this piece, too, will have spatial and theatrical elements to it.

• In May 2008 Steve Bingham (violin) and Chris Brannick (percussion) performed Abandoned Slatemine; Ghosts and Fiddler at King's Lynn Arts Centre, as part of a programme entitled "Skinned, Strung and Struck".

• A new piano trio called Paean written for the Onyx Trio was performed by them at St Olave's Church, London on 10th July 2007. Click here to hear the complete performance.

• Simon was commissioned to write two works as part of Strings and Things - a composition and performance project hosted by the Purcell School featuring Ensemble of London directed by Antonio Cucchiara. The first piece, a trio called A Series of Seemings was played by members of Ensemble of London in a concert on 29 June 2007. The second piece Yarn and Black Sails is a major new piece for professional string players to perform with students and was performed by Ensemble of London together with string students from the Purcell School and other Greater London schools (conducted by Ian Jewel) in a concert to mark the culmination of the project on 30 June 2007. Click here for a sound clip.

• 1966 (the orchestral work commissioned by the Shropshire Youth Orchestra last year) has had another outing, this time performed by the Colchester Institute Orchestra on 9 May 2007 in the Swinburne Hall, Colchester. The concert was a great success and it was good to hear the fruits of a recent revival in orchestral playing at the college under the baton of Steve Bingham.

• Simon has been invited to return to the composition teaching department at Royal Holloway, University of London in the academic year 2007-8.

• Demeter and Persephone a new piece for solo violin was brilliantly premiered by the exciting young violinist Joo-Yeon Sir in a concert at the Purcell School on 6 December 2006. This piece was written in celebration of the birth of Simon's new daughter Zora Sioux on 6 November 2006. A recording of this performance is available to listen to (there are also complete recordings of Panorama for cello and piano and Catharsis for solo viola recorded at a Big Noise concert last year) on the Catalogue of works page.

• The Ealing Clarinet Choir and Ensemble (ECCE) gave a rousing performance of their commission Jiggery-pokery with students from St Paul's School at St Paul's School on 11 November 2006.
  
  'Simon Speare's Jiggery-pokery was purposely and successfully an entertainment piece' Stephen Dodgson, Clarinet and Saxophone Spring 2007

• Procession for Derek (Simon's wind quintet in memory of friend and colleague Derek Kitt) was performed by the Cornish Wind Quintet at the Derek Kitt Memorial Concert in the Hall for Cornwall, Truro, on 8 October 2006.

• Eagle-eyed telly viewers among you will have spotted Simon's piano piece Soliloquy (from Dramatics) being performed by piano finalist Kausikan Rajeshkumar in the BBC Young Musician of the Year broadcast over the May 2006 bank holiday.

• On 29 March 2006 Colchester Institute Big Noise performers played three of Simon's more recent pieces: Dramatics (for solo piano), Panorama (for piano and cello) and Catharsis for viola (world premiere) alongside new works by Alan Bullard, Tim Tory, Eric Hudes, Alan Parsons, Steve Ferre, Julia Usher and Stuart Russell. The evening concert followed an afternoon of workshops with student composers led by Simon with players from Big Noise.

• Simon presented the classical radio show Dead and Alive on Resonance FM in February. He was asked to guest-present a one off show after being a featured composer earlier in the season.

• Steve Bingham (www.stevebingham.co.uk) and Chris Brannick gave two performances of Abandoned slatemine. Ghosts and fiddler as part of the Newham Festival in east London during September 2005.

• Sarah Suckling and Huw Watkins performed Panorama for cello and piano at the Royal College of Music on 18th April 2005.

• Steve Bingham will perform and record a new commission for electric violin in 2008.

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