First Philharmonia Sessions: New Dawn

Blog by Paula Downes

Posted:17/01/2026

First set of recording sessions: New Dawn, Saturday and Sunday, March 16th and 17th, 2024, Alexandra Palace, London

With hindsight, we are very glad that we recorded New Dawn first. It was the biggest undertaking, and we are unsure that we would have done it at all if it hadn’t been done first! This work is a monumental setting of Native American texts in English translation, telling the story of the death and rebirth of a soul. The music is wide and spacious, suspenseful, meditative and deliciously harmonically crunchy in places. I knew the score extremely well, having attended the premiere at Birmingham Conservatoire in 2000, and then having organised a second performance in King’s Chapel, Cambridge under Stephen Cleobury in 2001, singing the soprano solos myself. I also put together a multitrack promotional version and made videos to put on youtube a few years ago, since the recordings of the two performances were too fuzzy. My Dad loved this version, and actually listened to it as he died. For this reason, and the fact that I loved the work and that it was dedicated to me in the first place, I was desperate to get this work recorded. 

David’s Mum, Marie, arrived at our house in Ely on the Wednesday evening, March 13th, to look after the girls while we were in London for the recording. I had never left them before like this, only ever with David, so this was a big deal, particularly for Millie, our youngest. I had left pages of instructions for my mother-in-law about food preferences, how appliances worked etc.

I went to work (as PA to the Head at my daughters' school) the following morning, got a few bits and pieces done, and then David and I left Ely with all the scores and parts in our car, having checked and rechecked numerous times that they were all there, at around 10:30am. We were both excited and terrified. We had been planning for this for a long time, and it was finally happening! It was a huge undertaking, too big to fully comprehend.

Andrew Downes' New Dawn scores and parts all ready to take to the Philharmonia recording, April, 2024 

As I drove into London, David wrangled with the Transport for London app to pay the congestion charge. We hadn’t driven into London for a very long time so weren’t set up. It took a while to get through the congested streets to the Warehouse near Waterloo, where the choral rehearsal was taking place that evening.

The Warehouse, Waterloo

Aidan Oliver had booked the singers who were forming Philharmonia Voices. I had sung with them myself when they were founded in 2004, after having gone to audition for Aidan to get onto the St Margaret’s Westminster Dep list. In that first year, Philharmonia Voices sang the B Minor Mass and Haydn’s Creation under Andras Shiff in the Southbank Centre and Salisbury Cathedral. They were amazing experiences. I was so delighted when Aidan agreed to put the choir together for our Downes Philharmonia recording all these years later. He did such a wonderful job bringing together these amazing singers, and he knew exactly how to get the best out of them. We also did evening rehearsals at the Warehouse back in 2004, so I had already been to this venue. It had two lovely rehearsal spaces with sprung wooden floors. We were grateful to be able to park right outside in the tiny courtyard, which felt crazy right in the centre of London! There was also thankfully a lovely pub nearby, where David and I could eat lunch, have cups of tea, get onto the Wi-Fi and I could carry on with my working day remotely, before the rehearsals started around 6. I had to make sure I got the school Newsletter finished and sent out by the end of Friday! (I was so grateful to have been given permission to do this, and I had worked really hard to get ahead with my school work this week).

While we were in the pub, David received a message from the Philharmonia Librarian to say the clarinettists needed their parts split apart. Panic ensued. Sibelius was no longer working on David’s laptop. The librarian said they could work with the Sibelius file we had if I could send it over, so I desperately tried to find it in my emails, but knew it was a bit of a mess, because it was an old, converted file from an older version of Sibelius! After some back and forth, we worked out there was only one short bit that needed to be written out and all was well.

We had a soloists-only rehearsal at 6:30pm. I was very nervous. I had no idea how this was going to sound, how I was going to sing. I bumped into Aidan Oliver in the street on my way back from buying some water – unbelievably, it had been at least 20 years since I had last seen him!

The soloists’ rehearsal went very well, but my voice was tired by the end of this rehearsal – the soprano solos are very high and sustained. After a break and choir-only rehearsal, we had to go and sing it all again with the choir! The other soloists were very friendly and wonderful to sing alongside. I had fleeting moments of self-doubt, but forced them away in order to concentrate and do my best. I had been so worried about getting ill and losing my voice in the run-up to this recording. There was no way the date could be changed just for me, with all of these people involved, and I couldn’t imagine not being able to sing in it myself after all of this hard work!

Between my two rehearsals, I miraculously fitted in some online Parents’ Evening appointments for my older daughter! I found a spot up the stairwell and apologised for the darkness at my end!

During the rehearsal with the choir, it was lovely to meet the singers, and catch up with Kate Ashby, who was also singing and who I had known in Trinity Choir! The choir sounded amazing. I made the mistake of sitting down in both rehearsals, which made it much harder to sing, and I was doubting myself by the end of the second rehearsal. I told myself I would be fine after a day’s rest since the recording wasn’t until the Saturday, thank goodness.

We were staying in a small hotel in Muswell Hill. We drove there following the rehearsal and were relieved to find a Kebab shop still open nearby so we could stuff our faces after an exhilarating evening.

We went to sleep very late, so I set my alarm to make sure I was online at 8am to organise cover for the school. I worked all morning on cover, the Newsletter etc. David went to get croissants and coffee for us and then spent his time working on the score.

My Mum arrived for lunch, so we went to Wetherspoons, and I tried to keep calm. It was all too nerve-wracking! Later that afternoon, we decided to go for a walk to find Alexandra Palace, the venue for the recording. We had originally booked St Augustine’s Church in Kilburn, but our producer decided it was too small for New Dawn, which requires a huge orchestra and choir. We had madly scouted around for other venues, with about a month to spare! Luckily, we all agreed on Alexandra Palace, which was happily available!

I had lived very close to Muswell Hill from 2003-5 - just off Hornsey Lane, near the Archway Road and Highgate Hill - when I was teaching at South Hampstead High School for Girls, my first teaching job, and first time living in London. I had never been to Alexandra Palace before and couldn’t believe how close it was, since I used to spend a lot of time in Muswell Hill, for coffee and shopping. It was nice to be back. I kept noticing connections between this time and the time when I had lived here: the fact that it was then that I had met Aidan and sang with Philharmonia Voices for example.

Our walk to Alexandra Palace the day before the recording

After our walk to the awesome Alexandra Palace, which only increased the butterflies in my tummy, we returned to the hotel to rest and have some sandwiches.

My Mum and I had another good walk around the area the next morning, while David was studying his score in our room. He definitely needed to be left on his own. It was nice to have the time with my Mum and to explore the beautiful local streets. We had brunch in Wetherspoons and bought sandwiches and water for us all for the evening from M&S, since we had no idea what the food situation would be. We then drove up to Ally Pally with all of the scores and carried them in between us. We saw a big lorry with “Philharmonia” on the side outside. We found our dressing room and I lay on the floor to do some stretching. David took himself off to study his score. At about 1:55, David came into the dressing room and said we had half an hour to go before it started. I was trying to remain as calm as possible. We had no idea how this was going to go. Everything was hanging on the next few hours. All of a sudden, David realised the session started at 2! We remembered the schedule had changed at some point during the organisation, and we had got it wrong in our heads! Can you believe it?! We raced along the corridor, entered the massive theatre and got started immediately. The huge orchestra was seated and ready to play, the choir was there. No one had any idea that we had nearly been late for our own recording session!

New Dawn recording session, day 2, Alexandra Palace, photo by Matthew Johnson

The orchestra for New Dawn was huge! I knew this first-hand already, since I had organised a performance of the work in 2001 in King’s Chapel, Cambridge, with Stephen Cleobury conducting, and student performers. I had an impossible task sourcing vast numbers of percussion instruments, a lorry to transport them and players to play them! Back then, I remember standing in King’s Chapel on the day of the performance, realising I was tiny, and the whole operation was huge, beyond my control. 

Back in Ally Pally, 2024, I sat down in my place and drank it all in. It was utterly overwhelming. My Mum was very far away up in the balcony. 

Cynthia Downes at the New Dawn recording, photos by Matthew Johnson

David was very far away at the helm! 

New Dawn recording session, day 2, photos by Matthew Johnson

Myles was in a truck in the carpark! The Theatre was very beautiful. They had renovated it in 2018 by exposing a lot of the original wall, as well as bits of layers that had been added on top over the years. This resulted in a shabby-chic style, showing the history of the building. 

New Dawn recording session, day 2, photo by Matthew Johnson

It was an indescribable experience to have my Dad’s huge score brought to life in this way. This was all much bigger than me – I had produced a monster and had to sit back and let it all wash over me. The orchestra sounded utterly fabulous. The string sound was luscious, the woodwinds were impeccable, the horns were gleaming in look and sound, the trumpets and trombones were powerful and impossibly accurate, the percussion section was awesome. 

New Dawn recording session, day 2, photo by Matthew Johnson

I aimed to focus on my own part and sing my best. I knew the whole score in great detail, since I had produced a multitrack promotional recording of the work a few years prior. It was a luxury to focus on singing the solo soprano line, and to experience these top-notch musicians giving their all to all the other parts. I concentrated very hard on what I needed to do. The standards were so high – I didn’t want to be the weak link! I needed nerves of steel to come in on very high notes as beautifully and as accurately as possible. This was my chance, and I must not blow it. Aidan again did a wonderful job of making sure the chorus’s consonants were clear, vowels uniform, and tuning perfect.

New Dawn recording session, day 2, photo by Matthew Johnson

The following day, I dressed in a new long green flowery dress I had bought for the occasion. Today we had a film crew coming!

Four soloists: Paula Downes, Eleanor Minney, Samuel Boden, Simon Grant

We had had a long chat with Guy Wigmore, the filmmaker, recommended by Myles, about what we wanted for the film and what we wanted the narrative to be. These were difficult questions. I knew I wanted the family connection to the Philharmonia to be in there, since that was one of the main reasons we had asked them in the first place. We wanted my Dad’s personality and philosophies to shine through as well. Both David and I were to be interviewed, and also the other three soloists. Aidan was to be interviewed, and Guy was then going to ask players for short interviews on the spot.

In the morning, I watched the orchestra record movements 2 and 5 with my Mum from the balcony. It was nice to relax and watch the magic take place. They sounded stunning.

The film crew of 2 (Guy and his assistant), and a photographer recommended by Guy, Matthew Johnson, then arrived. They photographed and filmed the whole session and then most interviews were filmed afterwards. I hadn’t really been able to get my head around what would happen when with the filming, so tried to encourage people to have interviews whenever there was a possibility. I was so exhausted when it came to my interview, I couldn’t think straight and could barely speak. Guy wanted me to look at a fixed spot, which I found really difficult! I was so relieved, when I saw Guy’s finished film, that I was coherent!

After we had collected up all of the scores and parts, and had a chat with Myles who was derigging, we piled into our car and drove back to Ely. We ate our remaining sandwiches on the way and talked about the breathtaking experiences we had just had.

Marie had waited up and was very keen to hear how it had all gone. She reassured me all was well with the girls.

Matthew Johnson produced some wonderful photos of our New Dawn, movement 6 session. He sent them to us a few weeks after the session. They were full of atmosphere and life. It was so lovely to receive them and to have proof that the whole thing had taken place. It was starting to feel as though it had all been a dream. We hadn’t shared anything on social media because it just seemed like too big a thing to share yet. I didn’t dare believe it had happened/was happening myself and found it really hard to tell anyone. We wanted the recording finished and a CD produced before we spilled the beans.

Read on: Second Philharmonia recording sessions

Blog by Paula Downes