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Current Projects:
The Neighbour
The Neighbour, a short opera scene with text by Alexia Anastasiadis was performed on 16-18 February to a great reception at the Royal Opera House's Linbury Theatre as part of the Exposure series. Directed by John Lloyd Davies, it came at the end of my year long participation in the Vox scheme led by John and Dominic Muldowney (National Theatre) on which I worked closely with singers, librettists and directors to develop new work. The scene is a glimpse of a strange world, not quite our own and calls for a singing horse!
Classic FM interview
Out of my participation in the Exposure series at the Royal Opera House I was thrilled to give an interview to Classic FM to talk about the work of ROH2, the Exposure event and my own activities. You can hear the 5 minute interview by following this link:
Classic FM interview
towards After Bach I-V
I am delighted that my piano pieces, towards After Bach I-V, are to receive a performance by Hamish Brown at the North West Composers showcase at the RNCM, Manchester, on 7th March 2012, at 1.15pm. You can hear an excerpt from the piece on the listen page.
Tete-a-Tete Opera Festival
On 6th and 7th August baritone Marcus Farnsworth and I performed Metamorphosis, my monodrama based on Kafka's idea of a man who turns into a human-sized bug, at the Tete-a-Tete opera festival at Riverside Studios Hammersmith. You can see a film of the performance at:
Metamorphosis
Out of the Blue Productions - evolve
June saw the successful premiere of evolve, a new music and dance work in collaboration with the BBC Philharmonic orchestra at their new studios at MediaCityUK, Salford. The piece formed part of the opening gala concert and was interventionist in concept - it happened in and around the audience as they arrived, continued in the interval, and bade them farewell as they departed into the night. We are now working on a development of the piece, revolve, for two dancers and harpist, duration of 20 minutes, with a projected premiere date of early spring - details to follow.
Out of the Blue Productions is a collaborative venture between me and dancer-choreographers Bridget Fiske and Joseph Lau.
Our work together began with a commission for a dance video and ensemble work, for the eu-art-network symposium, which premiered in Austria in 2010, called Simple Remains.
This piece received its second performance at Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, and its third at the Austrian Cultural Forum, London, this time with me at the piano.
To visit our website click on:
Out of the Blue Productions.
The Human Voice in Song
This is a project I lead which commissions and performs new song cycles. As our latest performance, Soprano Zoe Milton-Brown and I presented a selection of international songs at the Bridgewater Hall in March. Compositions included a new work, Saudade, or, Longing, by Brazilian composer Marcos Lucas as well as pieces by Italian Dimitri Scarlato and Austrian Gerhard Krammer.
Previous commissions, generously funded by Arts Council England, include my own monodrama, Metamorphosis, based on Franz Kafka's idea of a man who turns into a human-sized bug overnight, written for baritone Marcus Farnsworth, and Cameron Harris' Songs from the Land of the Broken String, which sets South African indigenous poetry. You can see Metamorphosis by clicking on the link at the top of the page.
Anthony Burgess Foundation
Earlier this year, the Anthony Burgess Foundation commissioned me to produce and conduct the first UK performance of Anthony Burgess's songs for voice and ensemble. As well as being a prolific writer, and author of epoch-defining A Clockwork Orange, Burgess was a composer of songs, concertos and symphonies. Soprano Zoe Milton-Brown, tenor Tim Kennedy and an ensemble of Manchester's finest musicians joined me at the foundation's headquarters in the first of a series of concerts to bring Burgess's music to wider attention on 3rd November. Future concerts are planned so watch this space for details!
Some Previous Projects:
Song, Dance, Lament
This composition for bass clarinet and cello was premiered during the New Music Northwest Festival in November 2010. A clip from the concert is available on the listen page.
…but not least…
This composition is an encore for the Zion Ensemble baroque trio. Each instrument assumes the role of a character, as if in a play, and as the piece progresses their relationships develop.
Lowry Pictures
A composition based on the artwork of L.S. Lowry, written for Chetham’s School of Music Sinfonia and musicians from Salford Music Service and Salford primary schools, commissioned by the Booth Charities of Salford, premiered July 2009. The project was a huge artistic and educational success and it was a pleasure to work with such committed musicians from all age groups!
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