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Matthew Shlomowitz

‘Joy and Freedom’ in Paris

Associate Professor in Composition Matthew Shlomowitz reports on a recent trip to Paris. Last week I attended a dance performance at the Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris that featured my work, alongside music by Tom Zé and Ben Harper. The show was titled La Fête (de l'insignifiance) and performed by the Paulo Ribeiro Dance Company, based in Portugal. The three Paris dates followed performances in Lisbon, Viseu, Coimbra and Flor in Portugal, and Besançon in France. 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 →

Bad Music in Oslo?

Can a piece of music can be inherently bad, or are all such judgements purely subjective? Associate Professor in Composition Matthew Shlomowitz reports on a recent premier in Oslo addressing such issues. I was commissioned by the Ultima Festival in Oslo to compose a forty-minute work for the Plus Minus Ensemble, a group I direct with English composer Joanna Bailie. For this commission I decided to do something different: instead of writing a piece, I wrote a 'lecture-piece'. Continue reading →

New opera for Graz

Composition lecturer Dr Matthew Shlomowitz has just received an exciting commission for a new opera: In early 2014 I submitted a short proposal for a one-hour opera to the 6th Johann Joseph Fux Competition for Opera Composition presented by the Province of Styria in Austria. Later in the year I was one of six composers selected to progress to the second round of the competition, and asked to write a scene and develop my proposal (concept, libretto) further. 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 →

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 →