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Caz spent two years in Indonesia, where she joined the Bali Classical Music Players, the leading string ensemble in Bali. The group celebrates European classics from Bach to Bartok and diverse repertoire by new composers, folk, popular and Indonesian music.  BCMP concerts support the BeSharp programme to help local children access musical instruments and education. 

‘Pictures of Bristol’ is a three-movement suite for symphony orchestra. It depicts three Bristol scenes: the Avon Gorge, the Downs, and the Harbour. These were written for the tenth anniversary celebrations of the Brunel Sinfonia in March 2015, and performed in the Victoria Rooms concert hall in Bristol.

Premiere: The Brunel Sinfonia, The Victoria Rooms, Bristol, March 22nd 2015 (Conductor: Mark Gateshill)

Programme Notes:
Movement 1, ‘The Gorge’, begins with an angular motif featuring large intervallic leaps. The metre of this main theme fluctuates between three and four in a bar. The woodwind first play the theme, with strings echoing it in turn. A second theme is heard shortly afterwards in the celli and then with an answering phrase in the woodwind. As this second theme is passed around the orchestra, offbeat fragments of the first are heard in the woodwind. Rapid modulations serve to further illustrate the gorge’s rocky, changeable nature. After a recap of the first section, there is a clarinet solo accompanied by punctuated ‘col legno’ strings. After this, the music becomes graver and the metre changes to 4/2, with a new minor theme heard first in the brass and then adopted by strings. The woodwind interjects with fragments of the first theme which become increasingly frequent and insistent. Finally, the first theme returns in full for the movement’s conclusion.

Movement 2, ‘At the Harbour’ seeks to portray a more mellow and serene mood, evoking Bristol’s waterfront. The main theme is an elegant, major melody despite some unpredictable changes metre. Soft pulsing crotchets in the accompaniment outline the harmony. The woodwind enter with a second theme, also classical and sedate in character. Sections of each motif are passed between the wind and strings, undulating back and forth between keys and with occasional pauses to mirror the uneven metre of the first section. The strings then present the second theme more fully, before adopting the first as a countermelody over the second. The two themes are thus intertwined in the final section, before an understated and piano ending.

Movement 3 is an energetic jig. The Downs are one of Bristol’s most famous landmarks and here they are depicted through a folk-style dance, as if imagining celebrations held on them in times gone by. The idea behind its several themes is that each has an increasingly large range, as the dance becomes ever more frenetic. The harmony is mainly modal, with descending horns and clarinets emphasizing the flattened seventh. The dynamics also increase throughout the movement, going from a piano opening with upper strings alone and stopped horns providing subtle drone notes, to lively piccolo and flute solos. The horns and trumpets are heard more prominently in the middle sections, with full brass entering by the end for a fortissimo, wild and whirling finish.

Caz undertook a commission from St Chad’s Music Festival and Shrewsbury Bookfest to compose and direct World War 1 songs for choir. A large concert held in Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn, ‘Pity of War’, took place in November 2018. The first half of the evening showcased Caz’s compositions ‘In Flanders Fields’ and other songs. The second featured a new work by top composer Bob Chilcott, 'Move Him Into the Sun'.

 With almost one hundred young local singers, Caz directed the ‘Bookfest Remembers Choir’ in a performance which met with great acclaim. The concert was recorded and broadcast by BBC Radio,  with presenter Clare Ashford.

In September I recorded the string tracks for the beautiful song ‘Version of Me’ by ex-Spice Girl Melanie C. Produced by the talented Tom Wilding, Melanie C’s song hit the charts for months. The tracks were layered up to create a rich sound, using both violin and viola for extra texture.

This project was commissioned by Shrewsbury Bookfest to mark the centenary of World War 1 with a large-scale community concert. The event had a particular link to Gallipoli 1915, and the songs included a poem by the Australian poet Leon Gellert 'The Last To Leave'. 

Caz was also appointed as Musical Director and worked with the Bookfest committee to bring the project to completion, using a choir of 120 young singers from 8 different schools, as well as the Military Wives’ Choir from Shawbury and the Abraham Darby Academy Showband. 

The concert was filmed for the Arts Council and was recorded by the BBC, with Vicki Archer as presenter.  A special programme of the concert was broadcast on BBC Radio Shropshire on Christmas Day. 

2015:  Bookfest Remembers is featured in Shropshire Council’s Video ‘The Pity of War’ – see Caz Besterman explaining more about the project at 7.00 – 7.46.

The five songs reflect a nation’s journey through the Great War, from optimism to despair and ultimately grief. Presented chronologically, poetry by the most famous war poets including Sassoon and Owen is set to poignant music accessible to singers of an intermediate standard. Published by Shorterhouse, the songbook was featured in the ABCD choral exhibition in August 2014.