Jessica Duchen is a British music writer, novelist, playwright and opera librettist.

Life

Born in London, Duchen studied music at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. She was a classical music correspondent for the ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' for 12 years. She has written on music for '' BBC Music Magazine'',

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'',

Prospect Magazine ''Prospect'' is a monthly British general-interest magazine, specialising in politics, economics and current affairs. Topics covered include British and other European, and US politics, social issues, art, literature, cinema, science, the medi ...

'', ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', ''

iNews iNews (short for ''Indonesia News'', formerly named SUN TV and Sindo TV) is an Indonesian free-to-air television network founded by Media Nusantara Citra, a subsidiary of Global Mediacom unit of MNC Asia Holding. It broadcasting 24 hours a d ...

'', and classical-music.com. Duchem's novel ''Ghost Variations'' (2016), based on the true story of the Schumann Violin Concerto's rediscovery in the 1930s, was chosen by

John Suchet John Aleck Suchet ( ; born 29 March 1944) is an English author, television news journalist, and presenter of classical music on Classic FM. Suchet has two brothers, one of whom is the actor Sir David Suchet. Early life Suchet was born in Lon ...

as his Best Read of 2016 for the '' Daily Mail'' 's Christmas Books selection and was book of the month in ''BBC Music Magazine''. Duchem is also a librettist, collaborating with the composer

Roxanna Panufnik Roxanna Panufnik (born 24 April 1968) is a British composer of Polish heritage. She is the daughter of the composer and conductor Sir Andrzej Panufnik and his second wife Camilla, née Jessel. Panufnik was born in London. She attended Bedales ...

. She wrote the libretto for Panufnik's community opera ''Silver Birch'' (2017), commissioned by

Garsington Opera Garsington Opera is an annual summer opera festival founded in 1989 by Leonard Ingrams. The Philharmonia Orchestra and The English Concert are its two resident orchestras. For 21 years it was held in the gardens of Ingrams's home at Garsingto ...

and shortlisted for an

International Opera Award The International Opera Awards is an annual awards ceremony honouring excellence in opera around the world. Origins The International Opera Awards was founded in 2013 by Harry Hyman, a UK businessman, philanthropist and supporter of opera, and ...

in 2018. ''Dalia'' (2022) was another opera composed by Panufnik, inspired by global dialogue between war refugee children and British children. Duchem lives in

East Sheen East Sheen, also known as Sheen, is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its long high street has shops, offices, restaurants, cafés, pubs and suburban supermarkets and is also the economic hub for Mortl ...

, London with her husband, who is a violinist.

Works

Non-fiction

* ''Erich Wolfgang Korngold''. Phaidon Press, 1996. * ''Gabriel Faure''. Phaidon Press, 2000. * (with Dorothy Bohm) ''Inside London''. Lund Humphries, 2000. * ''London Chamber Orchestra: 101 Years of Transformation''. Pimpernel Press, 2022. Foreword by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.

Novels

* ''Hungarian Dances''. Hodder & Stoughton, 2008. * ''Songs of Triumphant Love''. Hodder & Stoughton, 2009. * ''Rites of Spring''. Hodder & Stoughton, 2012. * ''Alicia's Gift''. Hodder & Stoughton, 2012. * ''Ghost Variations: The Strangest Detective Story in the History of Music''. Unbound Publishing, 2016. * ''Odette''. Unbound, 2018. * ''Immortal''. Unbound Publishing, 2020.

References

External links

Official website

Jessica Duchen's classical music blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duchen, Jessica Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British writers about music Women writers about music 21st-century British novelists British women novelists Writers from London Alumni of the University of Cambridge British librettists