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November 2013

The harp, South American style

Earlier this month Charlie Grimsey and Cerys Beesley (year 2) participated in a fantastic workshop in Turner Sims: On the 4th November the word quickly spread that there was going to be a harp recital at the Turner Sims lunchtime concert series. What we didnā€™t expect was the charismatic Columbian harpist, Diego Laverde Rojas, to take the packed audience on a whirlwind tour of his homeland. Continue reading →

Britten and Mahler

November 17 saw a major event in our series marking the Britten anniversary. Cantores Michaelis singer and year 3 Music student Hannah Woodhouse, who was a soloist in the concert, tells us how it went: Last weekend music students from across the University of Southampton came together to produce a centenary concert marking Benjamin Brittenā€™s birth. 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.Ā  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 →

Musical offerings

The gift-giving season came early to the Music department this year: over the last few months, we've had some fascinating presents from generous friends.Ā  Head of department Jeanice Brooks describes them: I'll start with the smallest and also possibly the strangest gift we've received. 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.Ā  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 →