On the 28th of May 2025 Orchestral Tools released the new orchestral sample library "Tides", created in collaboration with Rachel Portman. Offering a curated selection of instruments designed to evoke human emotion "Tides" is geared towards emotive, nuanced arthouse scores. The library runs within Orchestral Tools’ free SINE player, which offers features like mic merging to conserve system resources, auto keyswitch options, easy remapping tools for greater usability, and the ability to download individual instruments and mic positions as needed.
Orchestral Tools: "Inspired by Rachel Portman’s work and created together with her, Tides gives you a carefully curated orchestra to navigate the waves of human emotion and expression. Chamber strings combine with a cast of special character instruments, and everything is designed to soar and sing—recorded in a musical context with a very special lyrical legato. Tides encourages you to write what you feel. Ideal for scores beyond the mainstream, where subtlety, nuance, and ingenuity combine."
On behalf of the release of "Tides", Orchestral Tools published an interview with Rachel Portman, as well as a couple of other interesting videos:
- "Tides" trailer
- "Tides" announcement
- "Tides" walkthrough
"Tides" by Rachel Portman is available now for an introductory price of €349 Euro until June 11th, 2025.
On the 16th of May 2025 Sony Classical released the single "Moment In Time" through streaming media. The 3:09 minute track is a reflective composition for piano and violin by Rachel Portman. The violin is played by Niklas Liepe, with whom Rachel Portman earlier also worked on their concerto "Tipping Points". A short video of recording "Moment In Time" in the studio was published on Instagram.
The new single is the third in a series of singles published in 2025, after "Hannah's Song" (released on the 28th of February) and "Eventide" (released on the 10th of April). At the moment a new album has not been announced, but it is possible these songs are part of an upcoming project. Hopefully more of this soon!
The BBC Proms this year runs from 18 July to 13 September 2025, and features the world premiere of 'The Gathering Tree', a new composition by Rachel Portman. The piece, which is a special commission for this event by the BBC, will be performed on the last night of the Proms, the 13th of September 2025, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in all the traditional favourites is Elim Chan with solo performances by soprano Louise Alder and trumpeter Alison Balsom.
On the 3rd of July 2025 the Emilia-Romagna Festival celebrates its 25th anniversary with an inauguration at the Stignani Theatre in Imola (Italy). Highlight of the event will be the performance of 'Filmscapes for Flute and Orchestra', a composition by Rachel Portman exclusively commissioned by the Festival. The evening is scheduled to start at 21:30 hrs, and apart from Rachel Portman's commision features compositions by Nino Rota, Benjamin Britten and Dmitri Shostakovich . Tickets will be available online here from the 12th of May 2025.
On the 11th of July 2025 Rachel Portman is scheduled to perform live at the Minthis amphitheatre of Paphos in Cyprus, as part of the Minthis Music Festival. The concert features violinist Niklas Liepe and promises 80 minutes of breathtaking live performance of her most memorable compositions! Tickets are for sale from the Minthis Music Festival website.