My acoustic voice & piano cover of 'Mister Brightside' by The Killers

Mister Brightside

Recording performed by the Australian Boys Choir and Vocal Consort - this piece made it to the finals of their International Choral Composition Competition, and received it's premiere August 17th 2014 at the Melbourne Recital Centre. 

Northern Star

A cheeky little live recording from Les Douvres Christmas Special 2012, of myself and blues musician Robert J. Hunter

Baby It's Cold Outside (live)

Demo recording of my version of Gershwin's 'Softly, As A Morning Sunrise' - I've taken this slower, with a bit more lilt. 

Softly, As A Morning Sunrise

My latest song, a setting of Shakespeare's 'Sigh no more, Ladies' from 'Much Ado About Nothing', reinvented as a sultry blues

Sigh No More

This is a live recording on my Concerto for Electric Bass and Rhythmic String Orchestra - written in 2010, this received it's premiere at St James Concert Hall Guernsey in August 2013, with Dave Pugh as the soloist, Sebastian Grand as the conductor, and the Guernsey Chamber Group (strings, guitar, drums)

The piece is in three movements, featuring 5-string (tenor) bass mvt 1, 4-string fretless mvt 2 and a 4-string for mvt 3

Concerto For Electric Bass & Rhythmic String Orchestra

This piece was written in 2006, inspired by my home island of Guernsey - it was premiered in Prague, EU by the Guernsey Glee Singers at the Praga Cantat Festival 2007, and has since been performed many times

This recording is of The Liberation Singers (a combine choir featuring The Accidentals as well as invited guest singers) at St James Concert Hall, Guernsey, September 7th 2018, conducted by Marilyn Pugh. The featured soloist if Jo Marsh, and the pianist is Jack Colley.
- Recorded by Flexagon, and mixed by Flexagon at Stretchy Studios

The Land Where I Was Born

Reading session recording made by The Princeton Singers as part of the 2016 Lehigh University-ACDA Summer Choral Composers Forum under the direction of Steven Sametz

Psalm 93 (Voices of the Sea)

This piece was written during the Choral Chameleon Summer Institute 2017 in Brooklyn, New York. It was premiered and recorded by the Choral Chameleon Singers at St Paul's Episcopal Church on June 30th 2017, conducted by Vince Peterson.

My Hiding Place (Psalm 32)

This is a song about those times when really bad things happen to you, things so bad that you just don't want to talk about them - and it's a song that lets you know, it's ok to feel that way

Island of Silence

My arrangement of the classic irish Hymn, 'Lord of All Hopefulness'
- performed by the Liberation Singers, St Stephen's Church, Guernsey, September 3rd 2009.

The Year - LIVE

Lord of All Hopefulness

'Adiraï' in the Guernesais language means 'misplaced'. In June 1940 the Channel Islands were given the ultimatum to either stay on their Islands under Nazi rule, or leave. As a result, many families made the hard decision to send their children to England whilst the parents stayed behind to try and keep the family home. Upon the Liberation of the islands on May 9th 1945, these children then returned home to an alien world, where they no longer spoke the language and everything looked the same, yet different at the same time. 

This piece was commissioned by the Young New Yorkers Chorus' as a finalist of the Young Composer Competition 2018. Written for the combined forces of the YNYC Mixed Ensemble and Women's Ensemble, it was premiered on March 24th 2018 in St Michael's Episcopal Church, Manhatten New York, conducted by Michael Kerschner. It was subsequently chosen as the winner of the competition, winning the Nathan Davis Prize in Composition for 2018.

Young Composer's Competition

Adiraï (Misplaced)

I wrote this for the NCEM composers award 2012, for which I was shortlisted - this recording is of the fantastic Ebor Singers performing it live May 17th 2012 for the final of the competition

A la perchoine is a Guernsey-French phrase that means, "See you Next Time"

A la Perchoine

This is a song dedicated to my Grandfather (with whom I share my birthday) - he was a paratrooper in the 2nd world war, and died march 5th 1945... my father (his son) was born january 2nd 1945... and the war ended may 8th 1945....

1945

'Love is Enough', a setting of the beautiful poem by William Morris, commissioned by the Empire City Men's Chorus as part of their 25th Anniversary season. It was premiered at St Bartholomew's Church, Park Avenue NYC, on June 1st 2019, conducted by Vince Peterson.

'Resplendant' - ECMC 25th Anniversary Concert

Love is Enough

During World War II the island of Alderney, like the rest of the Channel Islands was occupied, and heavily fortified by Nazi forces. Unlike the other islands however, concentration camps were built on the island of Alderney, housing slave labour and prisoners of war predominantly from Eastern Europe, although some locals from the island found themselves in the camp. Over 700 inmates were interned, and as many as 400 lost their lives during the time the camp was active; between March 1943 and June 1944. Before British forces liberated the island, the Nazis burnt the camp to the ground, leaving only the gateposts and a few tunnels as any sign of the camps presence.

There are eight languages featured in this piece to represent the variety of races affected by these camps – Jews and Russians made up the majority of inmates, but there were also polish, Spanish republicans and of course local people from Alderney. The name of the camp, “Lager Sylt” is of course in German, named after the German North Sea Island “Sylt”, which itself was heavily fortified during the war. Only in recent years has Lager Sylt been spoken of, and a small plaque now exists to commemorate those who died at the camp. 

This recording is from the World Premiere on September 7th 2018 at St James Concert Hall, performed by a composite choir of invited male voice singers, and conducted by Marilyn Pugh.
- Recorded by Flexagon; mixed by Flexagon at Stretchy Studios

The Spirits of the Lager Sylt

Singer, Composer, Vocal Coach

Hailing from the island of Guernsey, Lydia Jane Pugh is an award-winning composer specialising in choral and chamber music, with much of her work being inspired by the islands’ history, culture, and beautiful landscapes. Her music’s universal appeal has lead to performances around the world by several professional groups, including the ‘Ebor Singers’ (UK), and the ’Empire City Men’s! Chorus’ (USA). Her work has made the finals of several awards, including the National Centre for Early Music's Young Composer Award (UK), the Songdoor International Songwriting Competition, and the Australian Boys Choir Choral Composition Competition. Most recently she was awarded the Nathan Davis Prize in Composition at the Young New Yorker’s Chorus Young Composer Competition 2018 for her piece ‘Adiraï (Misplaced)’. She has also had the great joy of being selected to participate in several Composer Institutes, including the Lehigh Choral Composers Forum, the Choral Chameleon Summer Institute, and the Charlotte New Music Festival. Her chamber piece ‘Voul-ous enne p’tite goute?’, written for and recorded at the Charlotte New Music Festival was recently released by Ablaze Records on their compilation album, ‘Millennial Masters; Volume 9’. As a singer, she delights in exploring genres with a soaring range, writing original songs and creating insightful interpretations of modern day songs in the jazz idiom. Lydia’s music truly transcends genres, and gets straight to the heart of it’s listeners.

Lydia Jane Pugh

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks