On the day’s
threshold she wakes
to take up
hammer and chisel

‘The Stone Flower’ is a reflection on the process of making and the joy it can bring. A stone carver becomes lost in the flow of the creative process, sculpting a flower from a block of green malachite. As she works, she reflects on the embodied artistic process. 

Composer: Lucy Armstrong 
Words: Rebecca Hurst 
Mezzo Soprano: Jade Moffat
Pianist: Alice Turner 

An original work from Glyndebourne’s Balancing the Score composer Lucy Armstrong

Balancing the Score is supported by donations to Glyndebourne’s New Generation Programme. 

The Stone Flower was commissioned as part of Glyndebourne’s Jerwood Pit Perfect scheme funded by the Jerwood Foundation and other generous supporters.

Recording engineer: Maxim Gamble



The Stone Flower

Lucy Armstrong is a London based composer who writes boldly theatrical music for the stage and concert hall. Her work has been performed across the world including in Norway, Japan, Colombia, the US and across Europe and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

In 2022, Lucy was one of five composers who collaboratively scored Gods of the Game, an opera about football and corruption commissioned by Sky Arts. Gods of the Game was produced by Grange Park Opera and Factory Films, and broadcast live on Sky Arts. In 2017-2018, Lucy wrote a chamber opera, A Risk of Lobsters, in association with the Royal Opera House. Lucy wrote a chamber opera for Bergen National Opera and this work was subsequently performed at the Tête à Tête Opera Festival (London) and at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Colombia) in 2015. She’s currently resident composer at Glyndebourne and recently wrote a children’s Christmas song with writer Helen Arney which was sung by over 2000 local primary school children across 8 performances. She also developed an opera for care homes with Glyndebourne which premiered in 2024 and was toured to 15 care homes across the Sussex area. 

In 2021-2022, Lucy and Rebecca Hurst were commissioned by Salford Choral society to write a 25 minute work for choir and orchestra for Salford Choral Society and Piccadilly Symphony Orchestra. Following the success of the premiere in 2022, the pair were then commissioned by Cambridge Philharmonic to write another large scale work for symphony orchestra and chorus which premiered in 2023. They were then commissioned by Glyndebourne to write “The Stone Flower” for mezzo soprano and ensemble and this piece was premiered by Jade Moffat in 2024.

In 2024 she collaborated with BCMG, Haroon Mirza, Juliet Fraser and David Spittle on “Waking from Time” a collaborative, cross genre, multi-disciplinary performance. After working with Psappha on their “Composing For” scheme, Lucy was awarded their inaugural Peter Maxwell Davies commission in 2018, to write a 15-minute chamber work. She has also been commissioned by FontanaMix, one of Italy’s leading new music ensembles. In 2021-22 she won a place on the Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Composers’ Scheme where she wrote a chamber work for French horn and piano which premiered at the Wigmore Hall. She was commissioned by The Arch Sinfonia and Chloé van Soeterstède to write a 20 minute saxophone concerto which was premiered in 2023 by Gillian Blair.

Using composition as a creative tool for outreach and education is an important part of Lucy’s practice. She regularly leads participation and learning projects with the London Sinfonietta and recently conducted “We need to have a conversation” written in collaboration with secondary school students in London Sinfonietta’s 50th Anniversary concert. Lucy was commissioned by London Sinfonietta as part of their Sound Out concert series to write “Patterns and Mirrors” for Sinfonietta and youth ensemble, which was conducted by Armstrong to a full Royal Festival Hall of school children. She has also worked with Glyndebourne youth opera, Piccadilly Symphony Orchestra and RNCM Engage. Lucy’s collaborative project with Kate Pearson and RNCM Engage was nominated for a Times Higher Education Award in 2018. She has taught at the University of West London and regularly deputises at Trinity Juniors, City Young Musicians (Junior Guildhall) and Morley College. 

Lucy studied at the RNCM with Gary Carpenter and Adam Gorb and then with Julian Philips at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she went on to be a Fellow in Composition (2018-19).

For more information visit: www.lucyarmstrong.net

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