Currently browsing

Page 6

Ben at the Beeb

Lecturer in Composition Dr Benjamin Oliver reports on his recent experiences at the BBC.   Several weeks ago I conducted the Workers Union Ensemble for a recording of a new work by Matthew Kaner, Collide, at BBC Broadcasting House. Matt is currently ‘Composer in 3’, a residency with BBC Radio 3 and Sound and Music and is writing ten new pieces to be recorded for broadcast on the station in the next ten weeks. Continue reading →

Harpsichords return to Mottisfont

University of Southampton researchers Katharine Hawnt and Christopher D. Lewis are involved in an exciting project to reintroduce the harpsichord at Mottisfont Abbey in Hampshire.  Booking for the 15 October event is now available from the Mottisfont event page. In March 2016 this small harpsichord was installed in the Boy’s Room at Mottisfont Abbey. Continue reading →

Music, art, machines and more.

By Christian Drew, Music undergraduate student. Somewhere near the end of an in-depth discussion around his work, David Pocknee is asked what the relationship might be between the various divergent paths his output as composer, performer, researcher and visual artist has taken. An answer to such a question is not clear cut, as Pocknee himself admits that the diversity of his practice evades any easy summary. Continue reading →

NCEM Young Composers Award

By Christian Drew, Music undergraduate student. The National Centre for Early Music’s Young Composers Award is held each year in York, giving emerging composers an opportunity to engage with early music performance and practices through the lens of contemporary composition. This year entrants were invited to write a lute song, setting a text from a list of poems by Shakespeare or Carol Ann Duffy. Continue reading →

A Monday with Mark and Manuel

By Jeremy Hunt, Music Undergraduate Student On Monday 9th May, London-based pianist Mark Knoop and Italian flautist Manuel Zurria performed an exciting, modern programme of works by Laurence Crane, Conlon Nancarrow, Howard Skempton, Beat Furrer, and the University of Southampton’s very own composition lecturer, Matthew Shlomowitz. Continue reading →

Musical Mondays

by Harry Matthews, Music undergraduate student.  Mondays at Southampton always seem to be the busiest days of the week for me. On one Monday recently I started my morning rehearsing new pieces for my ensemble with David Owen Norris. The piano and percussion ensemble rehearsed ‘Workers Union’ by Louis Andriessen and a brand new work by third year composer Millie Aldridge. Continue reading →

Composition PhD partnering

by Ben Jameson, Composition PhD student. During the summer of 2015 I was working on a piece called Construction in Metal, for electric guitar and Guitar Hero Xbox controller, that was due to be performed in November of that year. As usual during the compositional process, I was periodically sending drafts to my supervisors in order to get valuable advice and feedback on my progress and how well the piece was working. Continue reading →

Exchanging knowledge with the National Trust

Postgraduate researcher Kate Hawnt has been enjoying the advantages of an enthusiastic, non-academic audience for her work: On April 11th I ventured up to the National Trust-owned property, Mottisfont Abbey, to give a talk in their Knowledge Exchange Programme. This is a series of in-depth talks offered to National Trust volunteers and staff to widen their knowledge of the property they work in. Continue reading →

Postcard from Potsdam

I've just returned from the State University of New York in Potsdam after participating in a fascinating festival on the French composer, conductor and pedagogue, Nadia Boulanger. When founded by the redoubtable Julia Crane in 1886, the Crane Normal Institute of Music was small enough to be run in the living rooms of a house on the town's main street. Today, the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam is a flourishing institution that boasts more than 500 undergraduate music majors. Continue reading →