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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 →

Southampton saxes at the RCM

Last week undergraduate Kathryn Firth (year 2) and fellow saxophonists from Southampton went to  London with their tutor Dr Angela Space for a specialist masterclass.  Kathryn tells us what they learned: Last Friday (7th February), I travelled to London with six other undergraduate classical saxophone students from the university for a Saxophone Masterclass with Lars Mlekusch at the Royal College of Music. 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 →

Performing for a pro

Last week the Music Director of Carnival UK came to hear some of our undergraduate musicians.  Singer-songwriter Olly Lewis (year 3) tells us about performing for one of the region's top entertainment employers: When Dave Desmond from Carnival Cruises was invited to our weekly Jazz and Pop performance workshops, it was an honour to perform on behalf of Southampton's music department and to get professional feedback from him. 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 MĂĄtĂ© Szigeti asks Austrian composer Bernhard Lang some questions: MĂĄtĂ© 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 →

Pleasures and entertainments

Second-year PhD student Becky Gribble is working on a thesis about Thomas Linley Jr., a brilliant composer and childhood friend of Mozart’s who died in 1778 in a tragic boating accident at the age of only 22.  She has just returned from presenting her work at a prestigious international scholarly conference: Last week I attended the British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies (BSECS) Conference in at St Hugh’s College in Oxford. Continue reading →

Happy new studio

Thanks to very generous donation to Music at Southampton, 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 →

Happy holidays

We're now closed for business until 2 January.  Along with our best wishes of the season, here's a warm account of our final festive event from Phil Draisey (year 3) - with a link to the live streamed video at the bottom.  Happy holidays to all from the staff and students of the Music department! Over to Phil: It’s December the 13th, the last day of term at the University of Southampton. There is a seeping chill in the air and winter rain falls for the first time this month. Continue reading →

I’m dreaming of a French Christmas

In the first of two seasonal posts before we close down for the holidays, Head of Early Music Liz Kenny writes about the work that led to concerts with her early music ensemble, Theatre of the Ayre, in Southampton and London last week: With performance projects, getting the first plank or idea in place is the tricky bit, but once that’s done other ideas suggest themselves and the thing gets rolling. Continue reading →

Music returns to Chawton House

The Department of Music has just launched a new concert series in collaboration with our friends and long-time partners at Chawton House Library, the research centre in the beautiful country house formerly owned by Jane Austen's brother.  Postgraduate pianist Ellen Day tells us about the performance: On December 10 we gathered at Chawton House for the inaugural concert, featuring a newly restored 1828 Stodart grand piano. Continue reading →