David Stoll and Megg Nicol's The Drummer Boy of Waterloo premieres in Aldeburgh
29th October 2015
The Drummer Boy of Waterloo tells the story of Edward Drew, a man who was made to work in a northern textile mill at a young age before going on to fight as part of the Battle of Waterloo. Edward was very musical, and loved to drum on table tops, crates, barrels. He aspired to be a drummer in the army, but the mill owner had other ideas: to him, the children were simply machinery to be worked until they were of no more use. This drove Edward to escape from the mill so he could fulfil his dreams on the battlefield.
The story is told by mill children who take on the different roles and use scraps of material and bits of machinery to play out the events, inspired by their vivid imagination and memories of their friend, Edward.
David Stoll studied composition at Worcester College, Oxford, and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He is an experienced musical director, composer, songwriter and musician. He has held top positions in various organisations, having been co-Chairman of the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters (BASCA) and a senior member of the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA). Having resigned from all committee work last year, David currently enjoys writing for orchestras, choirs, vocal ensembles and chamber groups.
Megg Nicol is a renowned songwriter and television presenter, featuring on programmes such as Popquest, Get It Together, Let the Music Take You and Ni Ni’s Tree House. Her scriptwriting credits include Secret Life of Benjamin Bear, Hopscotch and Jigsaw. She received a BAFTA for her songwriting work on the series Your Mother Wouldn’t Like It. She also founded Songshop as a platform for up-and-coming songwriters.
To discover more about David Stoll and Megg Nicol’s music please click here.
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