Mass for the Masses is a comission by the Bristish Music Collection. It is a response to the way the queer community, and other marginalised groups, have been sidelined by the Church for centuries. The peice itself is a celebraition of identity and solidarity through a queer lense.

Performed by: Aisha Ali, Helen Cockill, Natalie Farr, Ellie Showering, Verity Standen and Megan Vaughan-Thomas

Mass For The Masses - live

Summer Will Come Again - The Sunday Boys by Michael Betteridge, best arranger 2021)

1. The Hope (Ayanna Witter-Johnson) – FULL Demo Track

The Longest Night is a queer solstice carol that follows the journey of someone who arrives at a festive party alone, and walks out onto snow-covered streets hand-in-hand with someone new. Through an evening filled with joyful singing and dancing, a new, romantic connection is forged. This is a piece about the warmth, excitement and hope of falling in love at the darkest time of the year.

The piece was commissioned by The Sunday Boys and was premiered on 21st December 2024 in Manchester Cathedral as part of A Very Queer Christmas Our Solstice Night. It was conducted by Michael Betteridge. 

The Longest Night

These two pieces were co-created with individuals in two prisons in the West Midlands over a period of four workshops in May 2025. Pianist Clare Hammond and I worked with participants to generate musical and conceptual ideas for these pieces for a performance to family and friends in July of the same year. Clare later toured these works across the UK as part of her 2025-26 concert series. 

Shattered Freedom, Shards of Hope (2025)

Shattered Freedom, Shards of Hope depicts a prisoner's journey. Regardless of our situation, freedom is fragile. Once it is shattered, it takes work to rebuild a life from the shards.

This piece was co-created by participants at HMP Featherstone over four workshops with composer Michael Betteridge and pianist Clare Hammond in May 2025. The project was supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, as well as grants from The Gloucestershire Piano Trust, The Marchus Trust and Leigh Day Solicitors. We are grateful to Staffordshire Prison Libraries, Changing Tunes, and Theatre in Prisons and Probation for their support and encouragement.

Internal Victories (2025)

Co-created by participants at HMP Oakwood and Michael Betteridge

Internal Victories incorporates sounds from participants' experiences of prison which were then modelled using graphic scores and translated into sound at the keyboard. Participants created chords on glockenspiels that were woven into the fabric of the piece and collaborated to structure a musical narrative. To represent the interests of the group, we melded two distinct musical styles together in this piece – drill and a folk-inspired melody.

The men wished to show that, while there is a great deal of darkness in prisons, it can also be a place of resilience, transformation and hope. Music can be a tool to build community regardless of setting, and the group wanted to acknowledge how their diverse range of ages, ethnicities, and experiences influenced this work, helping them forge connections with other participants whom they might not have met otherwise.

This piece was co-created by participants at HMP Oakwood over four workshops with composer Michael Betteridge and pianist Clare Hammond in May 2025. The project was supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, as well as grants from The Gloucestershire Piano Trust, The Marchus Trust and Leigh Day Solicitors. We are grateful to Staffordshire Prison Libraries, Changing Tunes, and Theatre in Prisons and Probation for their support and encouragement.

1. Shattered Freedom, Shards of Hope

Klaus Nomi 
The Cold Song / King Arthur
Henry Purcell + John Dryden [1691]

Matthew Lee Knowles
[2015]

Nomi died from AIDS aged 39 and Purcell suffered an even more premature end around 35.  I include Dryden's words here, because they parallel both Nomi's impending agony and Purcell's (possible) cause of death (long exposure to the cold after getting locked out.)

What Power art thou, 
Who from below, 
Hast made me rise, 
Unwillingly and slow,
From beds of everlasting snow!

See'st thou not how stiff,
And wondrous old,
Far unfit to bear the bitter cold.

I can scarcely move,
Or draw my breath,
I can scarcely move,
Or draw my breath.

Let me, let me,
Let me, let me,
Freeze again...
Let me, let me,
Freeze again to death!

Klaus Nomi/The Cold Song [MLK/REMIX:1691/2015]

Version for a cappella men's choir
Performed by Taipei Male Choir

Score published by Walton Music:

USA - goo.gl/Mf2F0J
EUROPE - goo.gl/SpLwwX


千縷清風

Sheet music

Ubi Caritas (Taipei Male Choir)

Piano demo track of 'Our Trip' from the musical 'Any Other Friends?' - book by Matt Cavendish, music & lyrics by Ed Zanders. 

Performed by Alex Young and Jack Whittle.

Our Trip (Musical Theatre)

The lyrics from Company by Stephen Sondheim, in alphabetical order.

Lyrics From Sondheim's Company In Alphabetical Order

Anthem for upper voices, commissioned for the women of Jesus College choir by Richard Pinel.
//

see the score here: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/7fc924_ebce013e18a44c16bb503c43ebebf871.pdf

Gloria tibi trinitas

(for fixed media, improviser(s), video)

Dominykas Snarskis (Kit)
recording thanks to Alistair MacDonald 

i. Rylan (intro)
ii. Rylan II 
iii. Ben and Rylan duet 
iv. Ben
v. Ben II
vi. Roan and Rylan duet 
vii. Ben III
viii. Ben and Rylan duet II
ix. Roan and Rylan duet II
x. Dominykas' solo
xi. Rylan III
xii. Rylan IV (outro)
​
Singers
Rylan Gleave (Glasgow, autumn 2018 (thanks to Tim Cooper), and autumn 2019)
Roan MacKinnon Runge (Tiree, summer 2019)
Ben Taylor (Glasgow, summer 2019)
​
Video recorded at Càmas Ban, north of Oban, autumn 2019

helands heallands

Composer, musical director and animateur based in Manchester, UK.  Writes musical theatre, for the theatre and for the concert hall, as well as other spaces.  My profile is rather eclectic and features work with young people, amateurs, arrangements as well as much of my own music.  Enjoy!

1. Shattered Freedom, Shards of Hope

Michael Betteridge

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