With a passion for showcasing exhilarating modern works, this flexible ensemble regularly commissions composers and premieres new pieces. In 2017, Kokoro performed Jonathan Lloyd’s score to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Blackmail as part of Arts Festival by the Sea in Bournemouth. The ensemble also performed the world premiere of  “Burning Boy”, a new opera commission by Stephen McNeff to celebrate the Charles Causley centenary. It was well received in Launceston, the birth-place of Causley, and in St Ives the following day, and gained a four-star review in The Times and Opera Magazine.

“Britten would have admired the deftness with which McNeff conjures a kaleidoscope of moods from just seven instrumentalists: the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s excellent Kokoro Ensemble, firmly conducted by Mark Forkgen.” – Richard Morrison, The Times