In Hope has been written for Pixels Ensemble. The first performance will be given at a concert of Stephen’s work in the Angel Field Festival at Liverpool Hope University in June, 2021. The event, marking the conclusion of his 50th year of teaching at the University was a great honour, and he was delighted to contribute a new piece for the occasion. The outstanding musicians of Pixels Ensemble are friends and colleagues with whom he has enjoyed many collaborations in the past, and In Hope is dedicated to them. Given the context, the backward and forward looking nature of the title didn’t need too much thinking about, especially as we find our way out of a global health crisis. In Hope is a fast, short movement, which is largely bright and breezy in character; in earlier days, maybe a scherzo…