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Music@Southampton

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Celebrating Britten

Jamie Harris (year 3) describes Music's weird and wonderful day of folk music performance at Turner Sims in honour of Benjamin Britten: Last Saturday many of the pianists and singers from the University of Southampton collaborated on a project to perform the complete folk song arrangements by Benjamin Britten. The project was led by broadcaster and head of keyboard studies David Owen Norris. Continue reading →

Lutes and Ukes

Southampton's Head of Early Music Liz Kenny tells us about her summer project: In my daily life I play the lute. Iā€™m interested in how groups of plucked instruments organized themselves to produce music on the stage and in shows and masques in the seventeenth century, and how we might go about it now. Continue reading →

Composing and conducting in Beijing

On completing his PhD at Southampton last year, composer George Holloway was awarded a grant for postdoctoral work in China.Ā  One year in, he tells us how it has been going: Autumn, the best time of year in Beijing, is rapidly giving way to the icy chill of Winter. Ā I have my duck feather coat ready! Iā€™m in Beijing studying conducting at the Central Conservatory of Music. Continue reading →

Premiere of Loop Concerto for Improvising Pianist and Orchestra

Ben Oliver (Lecturer in Composition) tells us about the first performance of his new Piano Concerto: One of the highlights of my summer was conducting the Kent County Youth Orchestra and jazz pianist Ivo Neame in the September premiere of my new piano concerto, Loop Concerto. The manager of the orchestra, Geoff Dixon, approached me in 2012 to write a piece for the orchestraā€™s 50th Anniversary concert. Continue reading →

Cantum pulcriorem invenire

Postdoctoral researcher Gregorio Bevilacqua finished off the summer with an international conference on medieval music hosted at Southampton.Ā  Here he looks back on the highlights: I was enjoying the first glimmers of British autumn when we welcomed delegates to Southampton for a three-day conference on the ā€œGothicā€ era in the history of Western music. Continue reading →

Cheltenham festival from the inside

Jack Webster (year 3) tells us about interning at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival and other summer placements: In May 2013, I did a volunteer placement at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. I, along with several others, arrived a few days before it started to help the production team set up the festival. The placement was very hands-on, rather than being office-based, and I found myself working in a variety of areas. In the days leading up to the festival, I helped set up the site and stage areas. Continue reading →