This Saturday ensemble Trio Layers will perform angustia (2014) for flute, accordion, and violin at the opening of an exhibition by Piotr Błażejewski in The Municipal Gallery in Bydgoszcz. They will also perform Stockhausen’s Tierkreis. More information about the exhibition can be found here. Continue reading Performance in Bydgoszcz
Interstice is out and available to download via iTunes! More information can be found here. Interstice is an artwork and iPhone app that enables users to record, and listen to, an audible representation of their heartbeat. It also allows users to select a musical fragment to accompany their heartbeat. As such, users from all over the world are able to collaborate in the formation of a composition comprising an intricate cacophony of audible heartbeats and musical fragments. Users can listen to the resultant conglomeration of audible heartbeats and musical fragments by navigating a three-dimensional representation of Earth. Each user can add up … Continue reading *Interstice* now available on iTunes
I recently attended the Gaudeamus Muziekweek Academy in Utrecht. My composition Parallax Error (2014) for any 4-string bowed instrument was workshopped by cellist Katharina Gross and double bassist Dario Calderone. I also had the opportunity to meet other selected composers from across the globe. The experience was enlightening and it introduced me to a whole world of music happening right now. In the first cello workshop, we were introduced to a variety of contemporary music and Katharina Gross’ cellomundo project. Our own works were also performed and discussed. The academy also offered workshops about composing for harp and composing with live electronics. We were introduced to a range of harp music … Continue reading Gaudeamus Muziekweek Academy
Tomorrow I will present a paper in the PGR Symposium at the University of Leeds. My presentation will discuss how performance can be consciously applied to the compositional process. The acts of composing and performing are central processes to the formation of a musical work. Performance is a medium through which music is formed. It is a significant part of a work’s compositional process and, as such, forms a symbiotic relationship with the act of composing. An iterative cycle between performance and composition comes about when the composer performs their own work and/or composes through performance. Performance in this manner can be … Continue reading (Per)Forming Art: Performance as a Compositional Technique
On Friday 4th December, I will perform Hespos’ Tja , MusikBoxen (realising the tape part), and wuniof ‘ k (on piano) as part of LSTwo ensemble‘s upcoming performance. The event will also involve performances of Tiff, Kitara, Tuba Flip, Duma, HOPSzweisätzig, -Z (ensemble version), and MINImal. More information can be found here. The week preceding this event features workshops, rehearsals, and tutorials with Hans Joachim Hespos. You can watch the main concert live (and after the event) here. Continue reading Hans Joachim Hespos & LSTwo Ensemble
My composition angustia (2015) for flute, accordion, and violin (optional fixed-media electronics pending) will be premiered by Trio Layers in an evening concert at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, Poland this Friday. They will also be performing an interesting piece by Ryszard Lubieniecki. More information can be found here. Continue reading World premiere at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz
I have recently organised a symposium that explores performance and composition and practice-led research. More information can be found here. Continue reading (Per)Forming Art Symposium
My composition Parallax Error (2014) for any four-stringed bowed instrument has been selected to be workshopped by ‘cellist Katharina Gross and double bassist Dario Calderone at the 2015 Gaudeamus Muziekweek Academy in Utrecht this September. More information can be found here. Further information to follow! Continue reading Gaudeamus Muziekweek Academy
My orchestral piece Air, Earth, Water, Fire (2015) has been selected by the Yorkshire Young Sinfonia to be workshopped as part of their 2015 summer course and performed in their concert in the York Barbican. More information can be found here. They will also be performing works by Mendelssohn, Mozart, Taylor, Beethoven, and Brahms. The summer course is currently on-going and I will be workshopping my piece with the orchestra later this week. The summer course will also feature on the BBC Radio 4 Documentary ‘Birth of an Orchestra’ which will be aired on the 15th September this year. Further information regarding this can be found … Continue reading Yorkshire Young Sinfonia and BBC Radio 4
Some of my research has been selected for display in the Study Day on Computer Simulation of Musical Creativity at the University of Huddersfield in the form of an academic poster (see image below). This is not the first time I have presented on this topic, I discussed this particular subject at the PGR Symposium in 2013. I have also written about it on this website before. Poster Abstract In this presentation, I discuss my current composition Interstice, the ‘form’ of which relies on the participation of an interactive audience via the internet and an iPhone ‘app’. Due to a specific … Continue reading Study Day on Computer Simulation of Musical Creativity
Tomorrow I will present the following at a postgraduate conference in Leeds: Defining compositional material is not straightforward. Much of existing literature suggests there are many varied perspectives on this that are ultimately dependent upon each individual composer’s personal approach to writing music. As such, it can be argued that compositional material is an individual strategy for composing. Taking on this perspective, and with reference to my own work, this presentation explores a personal definition for compositional material by way of a particular compositional approach: improvisation. It is my current hypothesis that improvisation not only embodies a middle ground between … Continue reading Considering Expression as Compositional Material: ‘Improvisation is the Middle Ground between Composing and Performing’ or ‘Using Improvisation in Live Performance as a Compositional Technique’
I have recently performed in the Centre Stage concert series. You can find details about this series here. I presented four world premieres, two of which were written especially for the concert. This post serves as a review of the concert, and … Continue reading Performing in the Centre Stage concert series
LSTwo ensemble will premiere ENERGY CANNOT BE CREATED II: 4B4 (chamber ensemble) on 1st May in Leeds. They will also perform works by Finnissy, Hoban, and Mclaughlin. There will be a pre-concert talk before the concert where I will discuss my music along with the other composers Hoban and Mclaughlin. Specific times can be found here. Continue reading Upcoming Performance: LSTwo
I will be performing in the Centre Stage concert series in February. The following works will be premiered: ‘…it’s (al[l]/[ready]) been done!’ (2013), fixed-media electronics ‘It sounds an isochronism.’ (2015), solo piano and fixed-media electronics ‘Read between the…’ (2013), fixed-media electronics To Rave in a Fifteenth-Century Discotheque from another Time Entirely. (2015), solo string instrument and fixed-media electronics The concert will also feature work from other female composers, details of which can be found on the following poster (photo by Cormac Ó Callanáin). Highlights from the concert can be heard here: 1) Knitted, Crocheted, Looped – Morag Galloway Morag Galloway – voice, viola Margaret … Continue reading Upcoming Performance: Centre Stage concert series
I have been reading Michael Beil’s article ‘Material Shift‘, which can be found in Musical Material Today edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, and Wolfram Schurig. The following is by no means an exhaustive review of Beil’s text, but a collection of points which resonate with my current research. I highly recommend reading the whole book, details of which can be found here. The article is interesting in that it presents a particular perspective on defining ‘material’ in musical composition (something which is not straightforward in general). According to Beil, it is the meaning of ‘material’ which takes precedence over the actual ‘material’ (which is defined as ‘building … Continue reading Michael Beil: Material Shift
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