100 Second Songs at York Late Music
March 2022: after being postponed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, York Late Music finally presented the complete 100 Second Songs project performed by Anna Snow (soprano) and Kate Ledger (piano).
First Airing for New Guitar Piece
January 2022: I took part in a festival of research with the guitarist Katalin Koltai mounted by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Surrey.
Fretwork and Desbruslais
December 2021: an interesting exploratory day with viola da gamba consort, Fretwork, and trumpeter Simon Desbruslais working on ideas for a new project.
Meet the Composer – University of West London
December 2021: I gave a talk to an audience of composition students studying music for film, the stage and the concert hall at the University of West London.
Composer of the Month
October-November 2021: I’m ‘Composer of the Month’ on the York Late Music blog. Expect some insights into the compositional process and desert island discery!
Late Music Live!
Autumn and Spring 2021-2: at last some real live performances in front of actual audiences!
NYCEMF Programme Available
June 2021: the Programme for the 2021 New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival is now available here. The Gramophone Played, co-composed with Madeleine Shapiro features in concert 7
Brontë Antiphons at York Late Music
Brontë Antiphons that I composed in the spring of 2020 is to receive its world premiere by the Elysian Singers at York Late Music in November 2021.
The Gramophone Played at NYCEMF 2021
Summer 2021: mine and Madeleine Shapiro’s piece The Gramophone Played for cello, spoken word and fixed media electronics was selected for NYCEMF (the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival) this spring and will be performed online during the summer.
Composing the Historical 2
April 2021. Myself and Ed Hughes hosted a half-day research event at the University of Surrey about composers’ use of historical materials.
Videos by MAUD
February 2021: Two Curves from Shadow Variations have just been posted on YouTube by the Muir Albini Ukulele Duo (MAUD).
At the RAM
January 2021: I delivered a paper to performance and composition research students at the Royal Academy of Music this month.
Midlands New Music Symposium
December 2020: on the 5-6 December the Nottingham Forum for Artistic Research (NottFAR) are hosting a symposium in which I’m giving a paper on Dance Maze.
Composing the Historical
November 2020: on the 25th I am taking part in the launch of Composing the Historical. This is a collection of interviews with myself, Judith Weir (CBE), Shirley Thompson (OBE), Roxanna Panufnik, Ed Hughes, Evelyn Ficarra, Rowland Sutherland, Kerry Andrew and Martin Butler
On Sabbatical
November 2020: I’m six weeks into a sabbatical from the University of Surrey
New Chapter on Collaboration
July 2020: my chapter ‘Collaboration and the Practitioner-Researcher: A Composer’s Perspective’ has just been published in Artistic Research in Performance Through Collaboration edited by Martin Blain and Helen Minors and published by Palgrave Macmillan.
VUE Premiere
June 2020: the Virtual Ukulele Ensemble’s first three videos of movements from Shadow Variations are now on YouTube.
Virtual Ukulele Ensemble
May 2020: for the last month I’ve been working with a new ukulele ensemble on Shadow Variations.
York Late Music Projects
April 2020: just completed the second of two pieces for York Late Music. It is a piece for the Elysian Singers setting Emily Brontë’s ‘No coward soul is mine’
Perspectives on Musical Revision
March 2020: just before the coronavirus mayhem took hold I organised a half day event on musical revision at the University of Surrey.
Shadow Variations at Surrey
February 2020: delighted that Samantha Muir is giving the UK premiere of Shadow Variations at the University of Surrey.
100 Second Song
January 2020: I am working on a short song for soprano Anna Snow and pianist Kate Ledger.
Research time awarded
December 2019: myself and my colleague Chris Wiley have been awarded a Research Fellowship from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Surrey.
Manchester Bound
December 2019: I am off to the Royal Northern College of Music this month to talk about musical ruination.
‘Divertissements’ in Amsterdam
My electric guitar and harpsichord duo receives its European premiere as part of the 2020 Prix Annelie de Man.
Autumn Performances
October 2019 sees outings for Two Tributes and a Dance as well as Shadow Variations.
Australian Premiere
Shadow Variations (2019) for ukulele ensemble was premiered this August at Vala Beach Ukulele Camp, NSW.
Latest Project
I am currently (summer/autumn 2019) working on a piece for solo cello for the New York based cellist, Madeleine Shapiro.
CD Reviews
The reviews are in! Dance Maze has been praised in Gramophone and on Planet Hugill.
Featured Composer
I am a featured composer in the April 2019 series of Borough New Music with a concert of three pieces performed by Jane Chapman, James Woodrow and Jeevan Rai.
Music and Sonic Art
My chapter ‘An Experimental Turn: A Composer’s Perspective on a Changing Practice’ was published December 2018 in Music and Sonic Art: Practices and Theories edited by John Dack and Mine Doğantan-Dack.
CD Release
My CD Dance Maze was released on Resonus Classics at the end of November 2018. It contains solo piano and chamber music spanning around a decade of work.