Things Are Against Us with Basel Sinfonietta

The world premiere of Laura Bowler’s Things Are Against Us took place on 9 November 2025 at the Stadtcasino Basel, performed by the Basel Sinfonietta under the baton of Jamie Phillips. The work, commissioned with support from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, features Bowler as composer-performer together with the GBSR Duo (piano and percussion). The piece reflects Bowler’s interest in multidisciplinary performance and is inspired by Lucy Ellmann’s essay Things Are Against Us, a humorous yet pointed reflection on the difficulties of everyday life.

Score of Things Are Against Us

The White Book with Barbara Hannigan

Bowler’s next major project, The White Book, will receive its world premiere on 14 and 15 January 2026 with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bar Avni and is written for soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan, who will perform the vocal part. Based on Nobel Prize winner Han Kang’s book of the same name, the work sets selected texts for soprano and orchestra, exploring themes of grief. The White Book will subsequently be presented by the London Symphony Orchestra in March and the Copenhagen Philharmonic in April, again featuring both Hannigan and Avni.