Daredevil is a celebration of the courage and boldness of adventure sports. It explores the sheer joy and exhilaration of risk-taking, as well as the fear and danger that coexist alongside. At the same time, it embraces the absurdity of adrenaline junkies and the never-ending lengths they’ll go to while chasing the next rush: further, higher, faster.

The piece appears in eight short movements, with land, sea and sky sports all represented: Halfpipe, Monster Truck Slo-Mo, Pegasus, Deep Sea Scuba, Reverse Bungee, Punk Pogo, Parachute and Victory Lap.

Holly Harrison. Photo © Sally Tsoutas

Adventure sports may seem like an odd source of inspiration for someone who flat out refuses to board a rollercoaster, but I can’t help but notice the commonalities between extreme sports and elite music performance: technical prowess, precision, fiery determination, mental coolness, stamina and courage. A millimetre could be disastrous for either field! Here, Daredevil paints the athlete and musician as one. Ah, extreme sports and classical music, together at last.

Treading the tightrope of joy and fear, stylistic juxtapositions are at the heart of the piece. Daredevil twitches and swerves between sections, bounces and leaps, races and flies. Yet, it is also graceful, with more than a good dose of humour. The work places the clarinet at the...