Following his study he became a Head of Music in secondary schools in London and then Hertfordshire, which led to a number of commissions for amateur orchestral players including Mosaic for the Nottingham Youth Orchestra, Cecilia dances for the Hertfordshire County Youth Orchestra, and sets of pieces for young performers entitled Folios.
[1] Following his appointment Sackman has received numerous commissions including his magnus orchestral work Hawthorn commissioned by the BBC, premiered at the 1993 Proms, and released by NMC Recordings, Vivace for Sinfonia ViVA, Meld for Philip Mead and the RNCM Brass Ensemble, a percussion quartet entitled Puppets for Drumstruck, and more recently Concerto in Black for the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.
He was commissioned, along with 100 other British composers, to write the song Maiden in the Moor for the recently released NMC Songbook (winner of a 2009 Gramophone award), and many recordings of his works appear on the Metier label.
Sackman has asserted a "direct and uncompromising musical voice – one in which cogent argument and powerful fantasy are realized in strikingly memorable forms.
"[2] Similarly, when reworking pre-existing music he adapts it into his own highly individualistic contemporary idiom to the extent that the quotation appears inevitable.