Upcoming Performances
I am currently working on solo cello music for Alice Purton to be performed in a concert with Trio Atem (who premiered …going back to the skies in February) and a new work for clarinet, cello, piano and handheld percussion to be premiered on Friday 30 April at 17:30 by players from Psappha new music ensemble.
Mikrokonzert: I Swear I Saw the Sun Falling, written last year, will be performed by new music ensemble Vaganza on 16th May at the York Spring Festival of New Music and on 8th June at the RNCM.
Raise Your Voice | Northern Quarter | 28 February 2010
Over the last few months, along with friends Rob Guy and Steve Pycroft, I've been involved in setting up new music ensemble and composers' collective Raise Your Voice. I'm really pleased to be able to announce our launch night will be on 28th February 2010 in Centro Bar, doors opening around 19:30. The night will feature new music by Manchester-based composers performed by the Raise Your Voice Ensemble of superb young players, plus a laptop set, improvisation with live electronics and DJs. See the Raise Your Voice website for details of the night, full programme and information about everybody involved.
A new piece of mine, This is Water!, will be performed by the full ensemble of flute, clarinet, percussion, string quartet and electronics as part of this Sunday evening concert.
Listings: Facebook / Last.fm / MySpace / Official page
Flyer (PDF, 150kb)
Raise Your Voice Promo Video from Raise Your Voice on Vimeo.
Trio Atem Concert | Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall | 26th February 2010
A new work, …going back to the skies, for flute, voice and cello ensemble Trio Atem was premiered in a ‘beat the rush hour’ concert featuring commissions from Manchester-based composers at 17:30 on 26th February.
Venue page / Poster (PDF, 166kb)
Para cruzar el sueño | Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall | 21st February 2010
Tape piece Para cruzar el sueño, which I wrote last autumn at the NOVARS Research Centre, was premiered as part of the Spring 2010 MANTIS Festival at the University of Manchester on Sunday 21st February at 2:00 pm. I also played cello on the Saturday night in the First MANTIS Battle of Improvised Music: Voice, acoustic instruments and electronics, which was a lot of fun. We mainly played randomly selected trios, but finished with a mass improv directed by Gavin Osborn. Here's a video of that:
1st MANTIS Battle of Gestures and Textures (20th Feburary 2010) from NOVARS Research Centre on Vimeo.
Quatuor Danel Workshop | Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall | 18th February 2010
Two short fragments for string quartet will be workshopped at 14:30, Thursday 18 February by the Quatuor Danel as part of my Masters course. The fragments are experiments with material and notation that I hope to develop into a fully-fledged quartet later in the year.
Richard Casey Piano Workshop | Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall | 14th December 2009
Two new piano studies written as part of my Masters course were workshopped alongside those of other Masters students by the fantastic Richard Casey, winner of the British Contemporary Piano Competition and founder-member of contemporary music ensemble Psappha, on Monday 14 November. The studies explore aspects of time and harmony, demanding traditional virtuosity of speed and agility, but also less extroverted skills in fragile use of colour and resonance.
Notturno/Abschiedslied I | New Music North West | 26th November 2009
Written in June Notturno/Abschiedslied I, for solo piano, was premiered by Olivia Jageurs on 26 November as part of the New Music North West Festival (23-27 November) in a Vaganza concert celebrating Peter Maxwell Davies's new role as patron of Manchester University Music Society.
Listings: Facebook / Official page / Full festival schedule
Poster (PDF, 124kb)
Books of Moses | MANTIS Festival | 31st October 2009
Books of Moses, a stereo acousmatic work written last year at the NOVARS Research Centre, received its public premiere at the MANTIS Festival this autumn in a concert including works by Alexis Guneratne, Richard Scott, Mark Pilkington and Diana Simpson. The weekend festival featured curated concerts from guest composers Denis Smalley and Theodore Lotis alongside works by MANTIS composers based at the NOVARS Research Centre, diffused on MANTIS's custom-made 48-loudspeaker sound diffusion system.
Listings: Facebook / Last.fm / Official page
Poster (PDF, 384kb)
Gaza Cantos | Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall | 28th May 2009
Robert Guy's final recital as an undergraduate at the University of Manchester took place at 14:00 on Thursday 28 May in the Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama, repeating the programme he gave in Wrexham two weeks previously: Max Bruch's Romanze, Op. 85, and Paul Hindemith's Viola Sonata in F, Op. 11 No. 4, accompanied by Harvey Davies, sandwiching the second performance of my new piece for solo viola, Gaza Cantos.
Gaza Cantos | Wrexham Arts Festival | 9th May 2009
Friend and frequent musical collaborator Robert Guy gave a viola recital as part of the Wrexham Arts Festival on Saturday 9th May. The programme included Hindemith, Bruch and a new work, Gaza Cantos, that I wrote for him.
Mikrokonzert: I Swear I Saw the Sun Falling | Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall | 29th April 2009
A short concerto for cello, ensemble and electronics, Mikrokonzert: I Swear I Saw the Sun Falling had its first performance at a recording session and internal concert at the University of Manchester by Alice Purton (cello) and friends.
