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Interview with Laurence Crane

In the third and final of a series of interviews by postgraduate students with eminent composers who have come to visit us at Southampton Alex Glyde-Bates asks Laurence Crane some questions: Alexander Glyde-Bates (AGB): Your music seems to have more in common with the minimalist school of artists (Dan Flavin and Donald Judd) — a focus on letting unaltered objects simply exist as they are — rather than the process-driven musical minimalism of Reich, Riley or Glass. Continue reading →

Written in Water: Portrait of a Town

Final year PhD composer Ben Mawson tells us about his project 'Written in Water: Portrait of a Town', which allows listeners to explore Gosport in a new and exciting way: After receiving the first prize at the SXSC3 Dragons' Den competition (November 2013) to develop 3DBARE (software to allow listeners to walk inside a piece of music), I have just completed a commission from New Dimensions, portraying the maritime history and contemporary character of the town of Gosport - using virtual... Continue reading →

Composing new music for early instruments

Postgraduate composer Alex Glyde-Bates talks about the process of writing his new work 'Objet d’Art' for Trio Aporia, which was premiered at the Turner Sims Concert Hall during our 'MUSIC @1PM' concert series: Last summer I was approached by flautist Stephen Preston to write a new ten-minute work for his new trio, Trio Aporia, to go in a concert of other new works to mark the 250th anniversary of the death of French composer and influential music theorist Jean-Philippe Rameau. Continue reading →

Matthew Shlomowitz at the Adelaide Festival

Lecturer in Composition Matthew Shlomowitz reports back about a recent performance at the 2014 Adelaide Festival: Last September I wrote a post for this blog about a sixteen-minute piece I was working on at the time for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, which you can read here. The work was performed on March 9 in the Adelaide Festival and I’m pleased to say it went well. The work features a solo part for drum kit, and my mate Eugene Ughetti played the part brilliantly. Continue reading →

Music therapy with HRH Duchess of Cambridge

Lecturer in Music Therapy Sarah Hodkinson tells us about music therapy with HRH Duchess of Cambridge: In December the Duchess made a visit to Shooting Star House (a Shooting Star Chase children’s hospice in West London). Shooting Star House is where I give music therapy to children and young people who have life-limiting conditions, meaning that they are not expected to reach their nineteenth birthday. Continue reading →

Bristol Performance for Matthew Shlomowitz

Lecturer in Composition Matthew Shlomowitz tells us about an upcoming performance: I will travel to Bristol on 23 February 2014 for a newly arranged version of my piece Avant Muzak which is scored for seven instruments and sampler keyboard. The work will be performed at the Colston Hall by the Bristol Ensemble alongside works by Tansy Davies as part of a weekend of events co-ordinated by New Music Bristol. Continue reading →

Shlomowitz and Knoop CD Launch in Germany

Lecturer in Composition Matthew Shlomowitz reports back after a recent trip to Germany: In January 2014 Mark Knoop (Turner Sims New Music Fellow) and I travelled to Germany for concerts in Berlin and Hamburg to mark the release of Mark’s CD on the Belgian label Sub Rosa. The CD features two large-scale works for piano and pre-recorded sound by Austrian composer Peter Ablinger and myself. Continue reading →

Interview with Bernhard Lang

In the first of a series of interviews by postgraduate students with eminent composers who are coming to visit us at Southampton MátĂ© Szigeti asks Austrian composer Bernhard Lang some questions: MátĂ© Szigeti (MS): The first word that comes to mind while listening to your music is intensity. A sort of intensity which is familiar for me from my past encounter with trash metal bands' playing. Continue reading →

Adding the trimmings to the Christmas (composition) shopping trolley

Paul Bryant (year 3) explains how the experience of hearing his music in a workshop with professional musicians has changed his views on composing: As a third year composer, I am finding myself develop an interest into the widely eclectic discipline of composition, looking to understand some of the many methods to effectively communicate through music. However, after today’s experience I have been caught off-guard, now viewing composition in a completely different light. Continue reading →

Elemental Dialogues

Undergraduate composer Tricia Mann (year 3) describes her recent experience and prize winning success in an event at the Winchester Arts Festival: On Sunday the 27th of October I took part in an event which formed part of the Winchester Arts festival.  Artist and lecturer at Winchester University Anna Cady organised a project which was originally titled as Translations, but was later changed to Elemental Dialogues. Continue reading →