For most dance company orchestras, being hidden away in the pit, unseen and, more often than not, unacknowledged, is part and parcel of the job. When I went to see Mayerling from the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden earlier this week, the solo pianist who played Liszt’s fiendish music so fabulously didn’t even get to take a bow. (Although, as a former pit player myself, playing incognito does have its advantages. There’s no need to glam up, and you can make a swift exit to the pub afterwards.)

But for the Rambert Orchestra, the tables are about to turn. This coming Saturday, as part of the Spitalfields Summer Festival, the ensemble will experience being in the spotlight for the first time, without any dancers to steal it. It’s a testament to the high regard with which music is held at Rambert, a contemporary dance company which commissions extensively, giving more performances of individual new works than any other organisation in the country.

The importance Rambert places on the music is evident in the creation, by music director Paul Hoskins in 2009, of the Rambert Music Fellowship. This position aims to provide emerging composers not only with the opportunity to work with the company and learn about contemporary dance, but also to make a significant creative contribution to the company’s activities. The first Music Fellow was Gavin Higgins, followed by Mark Bowden and the current incumbent, Cheryl Frances-Hoad. All three composers have works being performed at the Spitalfields concert, alongside pieces by Bach and Britten.

‘I’d never write anything for dance that wasn’t sufficiently interesting in its own right,’ says Frances-Hoad, whose work Katharsis, for cello and ensemble – commissioned by cellist David Cohen – receives its world-premiere performance at Spitalfields. 'This is the first concert the Rambert Orchestra have done by themselves,' she adds, 'and there’s great enthusiasm from the players.’

Unlike the works by Bowden and Higgins, Katharsis hasn’t been choreographed – yet. ‘I do have a secret hope that it will be,’ admits Frances-Hoad. ‘I’ve had that in mind while writing it. It’s based on Bach’s Cello Suites – which are essentially dance suites – and inspired by my position at Rambert.’

Frances-Hoad attended the Yehudi Menuhin School as a cellist with David Cohen, and the two have remained friends ever since. ‘He’s a phenomenal cellist, both virtuosically and musically,’ she says. ‘He commissioned the duration and the instrumentation of the piece, but because I know his playing so well, I was able to work completely by myself on its composition. We had a rehearsal just the other day, and apart from a couple of bowings, he hasn’t wanted to change anything.’

As for the orchestra, Frances-Hoad has no doubt that they’re up to the job. ‘They’re absolutely fabulous,’ she says. ‘They’re all top-quality musicians and soloists in their own right. To be honest, they’re as much of the appeal of being Rambert’s Music Fellow as the dancers are.’

For this composer, being part of a dance company like Rambert offers a welcome relief from the solitary life of her profession: ‘One of the nicest things about this job has been to chat to, and be with, other artists. Everyone’s striving for excellence – I feel very at home there.’

As part of her 2012-13 Music Fellowship, Frances-Hoad has already worked closely with choreographers for a workshop at the Southbank's Queen Elizabeth Hall, and she is also planning a creative educational workshop. Perhaps most exciting of all, she is working on a new piece for the company with artistic director Mark Baldwin, which will then be taken on tour. Since most emerging composers struggle to have their work performed more than a handful of times, this is, as Frances-Hoad says, ‘fabulous exposure’. With in excess of 50 performances per tour, there’s the potential for thousands of people (10,000 last year) to hear her music. ‘It gets your music out there to people who wouldn’t normally hear it,’ she says. ‘I think people can be scared of contemporary music but if there’s dancing to it, it seems more approachable.’

But Frances-Hoad is adamant that the music she’ll be writing will be in no way ‘accompanying’ or ‘inferior’ in its role. ‘I’ll bear in mind I’m writing for dancers, but that’s no different to bearing in mind that a horn player can’t play non-stop for an hour, or that the trombones can’t play fortissimo for a long period of time. If anything, I’ll want the music to be even more evocative and interesting so that it inspires the dancers.’

She continues: ‘That’s what I love about being a composer. To be aware of how music works and how human beings – whether that’s dancers or musicians – can be at their most comfortable so they can perform their best.’