Composition at the Academy Autumn 2013

Composition at the Academy
Autumn 2013
An update from Philip Cashian, Head of Composition
As the new academic year
fast approaches we’re looking
forward to a packed schedule of
seminars, projects and concerts
for the Autumn 2013 term and
I’m delighted to welcome all our
new students who are joining the
department.
Last term ended with John
Richards and Dirty Electronics;
a project in which nine of
our students built their own
instruments (one of which used
a three metre sheet of paper as
an amplifier) and created pieces
which they performed at our
end of year Composers Platform
concert at The Forge in Camden
to a packed audience.
We are very much looking
forward to our Visiting Professor,
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies,
joining us for a week in October
and November for classes and
seminars as well as a visit from
eminent Norwegian composer
Rolf Wallin. Following on from
the success of last year’s Mainly
New concerts featuring Martijn
Padding, Hans Abrahamsen and
Morgan Hayes, Rolf will be doing
some teaching and giving a lecture
as well as introducing a concert of
his music on 17 October. Oliver
Knussen will be our featured
composer in the Spring term and
will be giving a masterclass and
attending two concerts of his
music. Judith Weir will be visiting
in October to lead a workshop
with the Blossom Street Singers
prior to them working on six new
student pieces and Academy
alumnus Martin Suckling
and Swedish composer Rolf
Martinsson will be coming in to
talk about their work.
will Huw Watkins, Alex Wood
and Richard Watkins for whom
students will be writing horn trios
for later in the year.
We will also be starting
collaborations with
choreographers in the dance
department at Roehampton
University, film makers from
the London Film School and
animators from the Bristol
School of Animation.
A number of our students have
had recent success outside the
Academy including Xiaotian
Shi who has won first prize
in the Transatlantyk Film
Music Competition in Poland
During the Autumn term
and Rubens Askenaar who
students will be having pieces
after attending the Campos do
workshopped by the Academy
Jordão Festival in Brazil won the
Symphony Orchestra, the Manson composition competition. He has
Ensemble, the string orchestra,
also been selected to have his
the percussion department
work performed in the MATA
and a student brass dectet. In
Festival in New York City next
addition the new music ensemble year. Following hot on the heels of
CHROMA will be begin working
David Coonan whose Sarcasm’s
with six students on new work as No.1 was workshopped by the
London Symphony Orchestra
back in April (and has an RTE
National Symphony Orchestra
commission for next year),
James Moriarty is a participant
on the LSO Panufnik Young
Composer Scheme and will have
an orchestral piece workshopped
by them next February. Academy
composers have been busy
at the Tête a Tête Opera
Festival with Tom Floyd’s opera
MICROmegas having its premiere
on 10/11 August as well as Laura
Bowler’s Size Zero Opera
giving the premiere of Academy
alumnus Darren Bloom’s opera
Kettlehead. Richard Bullen’s The
House of Asteria received its first
performance at LSO St Lukes in
May with Loré Lixenberg and
ensemble and Richard was one
of four Academy composers to
write new choral pieces for the
Voices in the Garden project at this
year’s Dartington International
Summer School.
Dates for the diary: composition department open day on 26
September, Academy Manson Ensemble/London Sinfonietta
perform Gruppen at the RFH on 6 October, Composers Platform
Concert 11 November.
www.ram.ac.uk/composition