I clearly remember the night in 1990 when I witnessed something that would later change my perspective as a solo percussionist. I was watching the televised Henry Wood Proms in London. Playing at that precise moment was a musical work that would change not only my life but elevate the standing of solo percussion to a completely different level. The piece was the world premiere of The Confession of Isobel Gowdie by a young Scottish composer, James MacMillan.

I had never anticipated nor imagined such a powerful orchestral piece to be screened via the medium of television before. I was transfixed by the sheer power, changing of gears, waves of scintillating sound colours and the brilliance of each member of the orchestra who seemed to be pushed to their limits to provide such an immense sound meal. The music ended with an immediate elongated rapturous applause. I was breathless. The young composer with a small glistening ear-ring shyly took a bow and humbly accepted the shower of adoration. I knew I had witnessed something incredibly special and important. I also knew I had to contact this composer immediately to ask if he would consider writing a percussion concerto for me. The rest is history. 1992 saw the arrival of one of our great percussion concertos Veni, Veni, Emmanuel. It was the first ever percussion concerto to be performed in the history of the Proms.

From that night in 1990 James MacMillan's music has been an essential part of my life. Pieces can come and go but with James's music each new work is a landmark, a statement whereby we are sucked into a web of musical power and passion that questions our very being. There is no medium that James MacMillan shies away from; he often embraces the instruments which are sometimes less common in a solo medium, such as the Cor Anglais in The World's Ransoming and his Viola Concerto, not to mention two percussion concerti; he transcends them into an emotional rollercoaster for performers and our audiences.

I fondly remember performing Veni, Veni, Emmanuel in Washington DC with the National Symphony Orchestra and the great Slava Rostropovich conducting.