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Composition, Page 2

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 →

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 →

Happy new studio

Thanks to very generous donation to Maths, the new year is starting with a complete renovation and refurbishment of our recording studios. Senior lecturer Richard Polfreman reports on the progress so far of this exciting development:   The refurbishment of the recording studios began in December, shortly before the end of the Autumn term. Continue reading →

Michael Finnissy Chi Mei Ricercari Tour Part 2

Senior lecturer Tom Irvine updates us on the how the tour of Michael Finnissy's new piece is going:  Greetings from Hsinchu, Taiwan's own 'windy city' and home of National Chiao Tung University, the hosts of the second of our three concerts. It's been a real whirlwind. We left lovely laid-back Tainan this morning after the very successful premiere there last night, celebrated afterwards with a outdoor (!) reception with new friends and old. Continue reading →

Into the Dragon’s Den

Postgraduate composer Ben Mawson tells us about his prize-winning entry in a digital project competition, which involved making a speedy (and obviously very convincing!) pitch to industry experts: During my research at Southampton on Virtual Music Performance, I've been working on building a collaborative team to develop a system for listeners to walk inside a musical composition. Continue reading →

Michael Finnissy Chi Mei Ricercari Tour, Part 1

Senior lecturer Tom Irvine is about to set off for Taiwan where he will hear the premiere of our chair of composition Michael Finnissy's new pieces for cello and piano.  Tom has promised to send posts throughout the tour but already has one advance report on how things are going: I'm still here in comparatively wintery Southampton, wondering if I will set off tomorrow as planned given various air-traffic problems in the skies overhead. 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 →

Recording Popular Contexts

Turner Sims Fellow and contemporary pianist extraordinaire Mark Knoop has just released a new solo recording, featuring music by our composer colleague Matthew Shlomowitz.  Mark tells us about how the piece and the recording came about: In 2009 Matthew and I first discussed the idea of his writing a new work for solo piano. Continue reading →

Chi Mei Ricercari – If cellos could talk

Tom Irvine (Senior Lecturer in Music) tells us about Michael Finnissy's new piece, which had a sneak preview performance last week in preparation for the December premiere in Taiwan: I've been travelling to Taiwan for the department and university regularly since 2009. One of the things that has come of my visits is a partnership with the world-famous collection of fine string instruments held in Tainan (a beautiful and laid-back city in the island's warm and sunny south). 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 →