Overview
I am a composer who often draws on text to inspire the music I write, from poetry and literature to twitter feeds and graffiti. Current projects include a collaboration with Lotte Betts-Dean exploring art-song settings of poetry by Thomas Hardy and a spin-off project with the Ligeti Quartet which responds to Hardy's poem 'Afterwards'. I am also developing a dance and visual art project. In 2021 I wrote a song cycle commissioned by Wild Plum Arts and the Estate of T.S. Eliot (recording to be released in 2022) as well as an overture for the University of Bristol Symphony Orchestra. I am a recipient of the Paul Hamlyn 2020 Award for Artists.
My Story
I should say, I am very surprised to be making a career as a composer. Music was not in any way part of my upbringing and a friend took me to my first ever classical concert when I was 16. I come from a completely non-musical, working class background. (This may sound contrary to my surname, which is double barrelled to include both my wonderful Dad who brought me up as well my biological father who died when I was 8). My parents didn’t complete school so, understandably, encouragement toward a PhD in music and then a musical career wasn’t easy to give! It was really hard for my school, friends and family to understand that I wanted have a career in something so financially risky and culturally alien as music, especially when I was so new to it. This is the thing of which I am most proud – sticking to my gut, persevering and finding a home in music via first learning electric guitar and putting on (terrible!) gigs and then finding joy in classical music and following the journey toward composing professionally. I am never happier than when writing music and working with performers, in these moments I just know there is nowhere else I want to be.
Alongside composing, I have taught part-time at Middlesex University since 2018, I am a freelance sound engineer and in my spare time I play cricket (badly). I am passionate about inspiring musicians from less advantaged backgrounds to pursue artistic careers and engage with music fully. Check out the outreach work of charities such as Music for All - https://www.musicforall.org.uk
Career
My music has been broadcast on UK radio (including BBC R3) and performed across the UK as well as in the US and Canada. Highlights include a performance at the New York Electroacoustic Festival (2018) and performances by the LSO whilst an associate composer. I have written songs and chamber music extensively but am now trying to develop more stage works (opera and dance) and music for large scale forces.
I am a composer who often draws on text to inspire the music I write, from poetry and literature to twitter feeds and graffiti. Current projects include a collaboration with Lotte Betts-Dean exploring art-song settings of poetry by Thomas Hardy and a spin-off project with the Ligeti Quartet which responds to Hardy's poem 'Afterwards'. I am also developing a dance and visual art project. In 2021 I wrote a song cycle commissioned by Wild Plum Arts and the Estate of T.S. Eliot (recording to be released in 2022) as well as an overture for the University of Bristol Symphony Orchestra. I am a recipient of the Paul Hamlyn 2020 Award for Artists.
My Story
I should say, I am very surprised to be making a career as a composer. Music was not in any way part of my upbringing and a friend took me to my first ever classical concert when I was 16. I come from a completely non-musical, working class background. (This may sound contrary to my surname, which is double barrelled to include both my wonderful Dad who brought me up as well my biological father who died when I was 8). My parents didn’t complete school so, understandably, encouragement toward a PhD in music and then a musical career wasn’t easy to give! It was really hard for my school, friends and family to understand that I wanted have a career in something so financially risky and culturally alien as music, especially when I was so new to it. This is the thing of which I am most proud – sticking to my gut, persevering and finding a home in music via first learning electric guitar and putting on (terrible!) gigs and then finding joy in classical music and following the journey toward composing professionally. I am never happier than when writing music and working with performers, in these moments I just know there is nowhere else I want to be.
Alongside composing, I have taught part-time at Middlesex University since 2018, I am a freelance sound engineer and in my spare time I play cricket (badly). I am passionate about inspiring musicians from less advantaged backgrounds to pursue artistic careers and engage with music fully. Check out the outreach work of charities such as Music for All - https://www.musicforall.org.uk
Career
My music has been broadcast on UK radio (including BBC R3) and performed across the UK as well as in the US and Canada. Highlights include a performance at the New York Electroacoustic Festival (2018) and performances by the LSO whilst an associate composer. I have written songs and chamber music extensively but am now trying to develop more stage works (opera and dance) and music for large scale forces.