Emerging Voices — The Marian Consort

Emerging Voices is our talent development programme, supporting the best emerging UK composers to develop their skills in writing for voices. Emerging Voices supports three composers each year, recruited through an open call, with writing, mentoring and workshop opportunities.

Following the success of the inaugural programme in 2025, which saw Christian Drew, Rosemary Shapes Tickle and James Wetherley-Buss work with Rory McCleery, composer mentor Laurence Osborn and the singers of The Marian Consort to create new works for vocal ensemble, we’re delighted to announce the three composers selected for the second edition of Emerging Voices: Rowan McIlvride, Gloria (Xinyue) Xia and Michael Hughes.

EMERGING VOICES 2026

Meet the composers

Rowan McIlvride

Rowan is a composer, vocalist and musician from the west coast of Scotland, now based in London. Her work focuses on experimental process and collaboration, weaving together traditional and contemporary elements to craft immersive sonic landscapes and structures. Much of her recent work has explored voice as material through recording and processing, often in cross-disciplinary contexts and involving live electronics. She is currently studying an MMus in Composition at TrinityLaban thanks to the financial support of the Richard Arnell Scholarship. Her past work includes scoring for screen and dance; she was commissioned for two site-specific dance collaborations for Hidden Door festival and has scored various short films.

“I’m really looking forward to working with such a uniquely skilled and experienced vocal ensemble, and having the freedom and space to experiment and develop ideas.”

— Rowan McIlvride

Gloria (Xinyue) Xia

Gloria is a Manchester-based composer, originally from Suzhou, China. Her creative practice is rooted in humanity, relationships, and feminism. She creates music that embraces vulnerability and honesty, allowing space for discomfort and bizarreness. Influenced by the New Discipline and cross-disciplinary, intercultural installations, her work merges music with text, movement and visuals, often through embodied, performative gestures and language. Her compositions have been showcased internationally, with performances in the US, the UK, Europe and China. She has collaborated with ensembles including Ensemble Modern, United Instruments of Lucilin, EDME, Hypercube, London Contemporary Soloists and Trio Immersio. Her work has been featured in festivals such as Rainy Day Festival 2025 and Eugene Difficult Music Ensemble’s 4th Annual New Music Festival in October 2025. Xia is also passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration. She has worked with choreographers from the Northern Ballet School and animation artists from Manchester Metropolitan University. Currently, she is pursuing a composition degree at the Royal Northern College of Music, studying under Larry Goves and Steven Daverson.

Michael Hughes

Michael is a composer and guitarist from Birmingham; his work explores ingrained musical languages presented with a broken syntax. Michael is currently studying for his Doctorate in composition at the Royal College of Music with William Mival and Andrew Hamilton, where he was awarded the Frank Bridge Studentship. Michael was the winner of the Irish Heritage Composition Award 2022, selected for the Psappha ensemble's 'composing for' scheme, the Cheltenham Composers Academy, and was highly commended in the BBC Young Composer of the Year. In 2022, his first chamber opera ‘Gilbert Feathers’ was premiered, produced by Tête à Tête opera company.

“I’m so excited to be selected for Emerging Voices this year and am greatly looking forward to collaborating with such an inspiring group of musicians.”

— Gloria Xia

“It is a delight to be taking part in the emerging voices scheme. The opportunity to dig into the nuances of a vocal ensemble work with this skilled group of singers and mentors is a rare and thrilling prospect.”

— Michael Hughes

Emerging Voices offers composers time, space and support to explore writing for vocal ensemble, through workshops, mentoring and close collaboration with The Marian Consort and award-winning composer Laurence Osborn.

We’re excited to begin working with Rowan, Michael and Gloria over the coming months. With such a strong response to this year’s open call, the future of new music for vocal ensemble looks bright.

Listen to the new works from the first edition (2025) here:

The Marian Consort is a PRS Foundation Talent Development Network Partner, supported by PPL