Bayan Northcott (1940 - 2022)

We are very sad to learn that Bayan has died at the age of 82. He was an integral part of the NMC Board from its earliest years until he stepped down in 2010. He consistently offered invaluable advice, and took a major role in putting together the NMC Songbook, in which he featured as a composer. He was a distinguished writer and critic, most notably for The Independent from 1986 until 2009.

Colin Matthews and former employee Hannah Vlcek presenting Bayan with a memorial scrapbook when he stepped down from the Board in 2010

But it as a composer that he would have most wanted to be remembered, although his scrupulous concern for writing exactly the right notes meant that his output was relatively small. The eight years that he took to perfect his Concerto for Horn and Ensemble was not untypical, but his major achievement, the Concerto for Orchestra, first performed at the Proms in 2016, was achieved in a relatively relaxed three years. He was too modest to have any of his more substantial works on the label, but we are proud to represent him in a small way on four CDs. 

He was the gentlest of souls, but always firm in his opinions. NMC would not be what it is now without his input.

Colin Matthews, December 2022