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Ben Oliver

When Harry Met (Some More) Composers – Part 2, Ben Oliver

Music's own Ben Oliver tells about his compositions and other pieces on Sunday's SHIFTS concert, and what it's like for students and staff to play new music together: Harry Matthews: Let’s start by talking about the upcoming concert Shifts. What gave you the idea to curate a concert that focuses on aspects of minimalism? BO: We do performance projects quite regularly at Southampton where we bring in people to perform alongside our students. Continue reading →

Triumph and Passion with the Bournemouth SO

Will Wilkins (year 3) reports on an exciting and enlightening visit to the BSO: Last Tuesday, January 23rd, it was my great pleasure to visit a Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra rehearsal at the Lighthouse in Poole as part of a delegation from the Southampton University Music Department. The orchestra were in their second day of rehearsals for their ‘Triumph and Passion’ concerts, which were performed in Poole, Portsmouth, and Exeter over the following three days. Continue reading →

The Loop Project – coming soon!

We are all looking forward to 3-5 February, when the Music Department will present a whole weekend of performances and workshops exploring musical loops. Leading jazz musicians Ivo Neame, Jasper Høiby and Jon Scott will join the HARTLEY Loop Orchestra to perform a major revision of Benjamin Oliver’s Loop Concerto, which was premiered by Neame and Kent County Youth Orchestra in 2013. Continue reading →

Ensemble Paramirabo @ Southampton

by postgraduate Music student Harry Matthews. For the first composition workshop of this academic year, the University was joined by a group of musicians from Canada named Ensemble Paramirabo. The group flew to Southampton from Montreal - giving a workshop on three new pieces following their performance at the Music Department Monday Lunchtime Professional Concert Series featuring a new work by Lecturer in Composition Benjamin Oliver, The Circus Animals’ Desertion. Continue reading →

Kenny plays Oliver

Great video from the inaugural concert of Playlist, the city of Southampton's newest concert series.  Head of Early Music Elizabeth Kenny (theorbo) plays Ben Oliver's 'Extending from the inside', which she premiered at the Cymnock Trust promenade concert in 2014.   https://www.youtube. Continue reading →

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 →

Sounds of the North

The Music department and Turner Sims are celebrating Norwegian musical culture with an array of fantastic events featuring visiting performers across the genres.  Lecturer in Composition Ben Oliver reports on one of the first of the series: On Saturday I had the great pleasure to attend a concert at Turner Sims featuring the Daniel Herskedal Trio with The University Strings. Continue reading →

Notes to the new government

Two Southampton composers, Ben Oliver and Michael Finnissy, were commissioned by the London Sinfonietta to produce new works for performance  after the national election.  Ben tells us about the project: Last Saturday my new work, The National Loneliness, was performed by the London Sinfonietta at the Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of their Notes to the New Government Project. Continue reading →

Cross Channel Collaboration

PhD composer Martin Humphries tells us a little about a recent collaboration between Southampton composers and Belgium based Ensemble Fractales: Over the past five months myself and two fellow PhD Composition candidates have been engaged in an exciting and incredibly rewarding collaboration with Brussels-based contemporary music group Ensemble Fractales. Continue reading →

Extending theorbo players from the inside

Head of Early Music Liz Kenny has been getting out of her comfort zone, playing very new music for a very old instrument:  I use my instrument the theorbo – the largest of the lute family with an extra long neck – for many things: annoying people on crowded tube trains, confusing airlines, accompanying students, demonstrating continuo harmonies, playing with singers and baroque ensembles . . . and so on. Continue reading →

Remembering the Great War

On 16th November, we are mounting the world premiere of a new work by Michael Finnissy, concerned with themes of war and remembrance in commemoration of the onset of WWI.  Lecturer in Composition Ben Oliver will conduct:  As the conductor of new music group Workers Union Ensemble I am fortunate to conduct around five to ten world premiere performances each year. I absolutely love learning and rehearsing new repertoire; it is such a joy to explore a new score with fellow musicians. Continue reading →