For a composer to be able to have a fiftieth birthday concert of his own music is an achievement, but to have those works performed with dedication and enthusiasm by a host of different choirs, ensembles and soloists, including many children, students, as well as colleagues, and enjoyed by a capacity crowd, is an even greater tribute. Malcolm Singer's 50th Birthday Concert on 13 October 2003 was just such an occasion, featuring as it did a world première and second performance, in a programme that spanned from an early graduation work to recent choral and instrumental commissions. What emerged was a stylistic thread and aesthetic integrity, a predilection for quasi-minimalist processes, energetic rhythmic polyphony, and a keen sense of expressive shape that gives Singer a unique place in the pantheon of postmodernism. Above all the works radiated a practical expertise that derives from Singer's experience as an all-round musician. Currently Director of Music at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Surrey, he is an accomplished conductor and teacher who has produced a large oeuvre in almost every genre, including children's music.