Mark Simpson - Press

Timothy Ridout and Mark Simpson receiving applause after the world premiere of Mark’s Hold Your Heart in Your Teeth

Mark Simpson
Hold Your Heart in Your Teeth – Viola Concerto
for Timothy Ridout

World premiere 15 December 2024, Berlin Philharmonie with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin conducted by Robin Ticciati

A breathtaking performance, the premiere, of a concerto that goes right to the centre of your soul.

Tom Service, BBC Radio 3 New Music Show, 1 March 2025

Simpson’s score start with a (very loud) bang and ends 30 minutes later in a whisper. … This most exciting addition to the viola’s ever-growing repertoire deserves to be widely taken up.

Carlos Maria Solare, The Strad, March 2025

Night Music – NMC Composer Debut Disc CD

…what hits home immediately in this magnificent collection is the music’s individuality and strength.  The sounds keep flying in mutating swirls, the strident morphing into the lyrical, or vice versa… Above all there’s Simpson’s blazing confidence, his full understanding of instrumental capabilities, and his love of pushing them to the edge.

Geoff Brown, BBC Music Magazine, September 2016

Simpson has an awful lot of music inside him and plenteous discipline when it comes to writing it down… His use of space and silence is notable, as are his gift for melody, his ability to ratchet up drama and his refreshing lack of inhibition in reaching for orthodoxies of style or tonality… This is high-quality music. And in case you need reminding, Simpson can play that clarinet too.

Andrew Mellor, Gramophone, August 2016