One of BASBWE’s most fundamental activities is to support the creation of new?music. Somewhere, somehow, at some point in the early 20th Century. composers and?professional musicians lost contact with the concert-going public and “contemporary music” lost its literal meaning – music of its time – and acquired connotations of difficulty, inapproachability, and an inability to connect with audiences.
It is BASBWE’s belief that repairing this link is fundamental to the continued development and success of both our medium, and that of “classical music” in general, in the 21st Century.
Since 1981 BASBWE has commissioned, either individually or in consortia, over 50 works. The College Commission Consortium, founded in 1994 and administered by the BASBWE Education Trust, has contributed a further 19 works.
BASBWE Commissions
| Year | Composer | Title | Publisher |
| 1983 | Philip Wilby | Firestar | Music Sales |
| 1983 | Guy Woolfenden | Gallimaufry | Ariel |
| 1984 | Arthur Butterworth | Tundra | Vanderbeek |
| 1984 | Joseph Horovitz | Bacchus on Blue Ridge | Molenaar |
| 1985 | David Bedford | Sea & Sky & Golden Hill | Novello |
| 1986 | Guy Woolfenden | Illyrian Dances | Ariel |
| 1987 | Richard Rodney Bennett | Morning Music | Novello |
| 1987 | Michael Ball | Omaggio | Novello |
| 1988 | George Lloyd | Forest of Arden | Smith/Jenson |
| 1990 | James MacMillan | Sowetan Spring | Boosey |
| 1990 | Carl Davis | Landscapes | Faber |
| 1990 | Martin Dalby | Flight Dreaming | Novello |
| 1991 | Paul Patterson | The Mighty Voice | Studio |
| 1991 | Richard Rodney Bennett | The Four Seasons | Novello |
| 1991 | John McCabe | Canyons | Novello |
| 1993 | Martin Butler | Still Breathing | OUP |
| 1993 | Colin Matthews | Toccata Meccana | Faber |
| 1993 | Richard Rodney Bennett | Trumpet Concerto | Novello |
| 1993 | Michael Ball | Chaucer’s Tunes | Novello |
| 1993 | Michael Hurd | Plaine and Fancie | Novello |
| 1993 | Richard Gordon Smith | The Bacchae | |
| 1994 | David Bedford | Susato Variations | Novello |
| 1995 | Allan Bullard | Heritage | Da Capo |
| 1994 | Michael Ball | Saxophone Concerto | Maecenas |
| 1994 | Martin Ellerby | Paris Sketches | Maecenas |
| 1994 | Gary Carpenter | Flying God Suite | Camden |
| 1995 | Adam Gorb | Bermuda Triangle | Maecenas |
| 1995 | Julian Johnson | Breathing Space | Maecenas |
| 1996 | Barry Forgie | Jazzin’ the Community | G & M Brand |
| 1996 | Edward Gregson | Piano Concerto | Maecenas |
| 1996 | Edward Newell | Sinfonietta | Tomus |
| 1996 | Adam Gorb | Bridgewater Breeze | Maecenas |
| 1996 | Adam Gorb | Awayday | Maecenas |
| 1996 | Adam Gorb | Euphonium Concerto | Maecenas |
| 1997 | John Casken | Distant Variations | Schott |
| 1997 | Samuel Becker | Dances of Puck | Bandleader |
| 1997 | Philip Wilby | A Passion for Our Time | Maecenas |
| 1997 | Aulis Sallinen | The Palace Rhapsody | Novello |
| 1998 | Adam Gorb | Yiddish Dances | Maecenas |
| 1998 | Martin Ellerby | New England Dances | Studio |
| 1998 | Timothy Ewers | Concerto Grosso | |
| 1998 | Adam Gorb | The Elements | Maecenas |
| 1999 | Stephen Montague | Deep in the Vaults of Earch | |
| 1999 | Brian Wilshere | Chaconne | |
| 2001 | Judith Bingham | Bright Spirit | Maecenas |
| 2001 | Philip Sparke | 4 Norfolk Dances | Studio |
| 2001 | Paul Harris | Ally Pally | |
| 2002 | James Rae | Two Cinematic Impressions | |
| 2002 | Guy Woolfenden | Firedance | Ariel |
| 2002 | Andy Pearce | Circus Music | |
| 2003 | Andy Pearce | The Heroes Rise | |
| 2003 | Dave Smith | Fractures | |
| 2003 | Kenneth Hesketh | Whirlegigg | Faber |
| 2004 | John Reeman | Wind Mass | |
| 2004 | Adam Gorb | Burlesque | Maecenas |
| 2004 | Jim Pywell | Yellow Stripe |
College Commissioning Consortium
John Dankworth
| Year | Composer | Title | Publisher |
| 1994 | Thea Musgrave | Journey through a Japanese Landscape | Novello |
| 1995 | Robert Saxton | Ring, Time | Chester |
| 1996 | Dominic Muldowney | Dance Suite | Ariel |
| 1997 | Ilona Sekacz | Let the Magpie Dream | |
| 1998 | John Woolrich | Sennets and Tuckets | Faber |
| 1999 | Elena Firsova | Captivity | |
| 2000 | Hemming Way | Studio | |
| 2001 | Kit Turnbull | Tetrasemic Interventions | |
| 2001 | Allessandro Timossi | Commedia | |
| 2001 | Julia Gomelskaya | The Riot | |
| 2001 | Guy Woolfenden | Serenade for Sophia | Ariel |
| 2001 | Rodney Newton | The Four Elements | |
| 2001 | Alun Hoddinott | Bagatelles | |
| 2001 | John Metcalf | Wind Quintet | |
| 2002 | Martin Ellerby | Meditations | Studio |
| 2003 | Kenneth Hesketh | Diaghilev Dances | Faber |
| 2004 | Timothy Raymond | Ave Regina Caelorum | Edition HH |
| 2005 | Andy Scott | Saxophone Double Concerto “Dark Rain” | Astute Music |
| 2006 | Simon Wills | Horn Concerto | |
| 2007 | Giles Swayne | Agnes Wisley’s Chillout Fantasy | Gonzaga Music |
| 2009 | Stephen McNeff | Creation | Peters Edition |