2012
Rob Keeley’s new CD
Songs, Chimes and Dances has been released
Rob Keeley’s new CD, Songs, Chimes and Dances is now available from NMC Recordings. This recording presents a survey of Rob’s chamber works, from the Skalkottas tribute Bells of Halkis to the Satie-esque 'Gallic' of trio Oregon Moods, and features performances by a range of internationally-renowned performers.
To hear music from the CD, and to order a copy, visit the NMC website
The King's miscellany
Jane Chapman - harpsichord
7.30 PM, Monday 26 March 2012
Council Room, Strand Campus
Free entry
Inspired by The oriental miscellany, young composers from the Department of Music devised a set of eight miniature works for harpsichordist Jane Chapman. Influenced by Indian ragas, baroque dance forms, Hindi film music, unmeasured preludes, Spanish flamenco, the santoor, Moravian folk song and more, this diverse collection reflects contemporary trends in composition, with an innovative approach to writing for the harpsichord today. Jane also performed a thousand golden bells in the breeze by Silvina Milstein and Manoeuvring and finessing by Rob Keeley.
Miniatures by: Jean Beers, Christoforos Eleftheriadis, James Fogarty, Patrick Jones, Epifanios Koufteros, Naomi Lewis, Michaela Polakova and Matthew Sheeran.
For further details please see the Archives and Special Collections web pages.
Music and Multiculturalism in Britain: Ethnography, Empiricism and Everyday Lives
16 March 2012, St Davids Room, King's College London
Carolyn Landau (King’s College London) & Thomas Hodgson (University of Oxford) convened the above seminar.
The full programme and abstracts are available.
Staff Appearances
March
Helen Prior
Birmingham Conservatoire Research Seminar Series, 13 March 2012
Invited talk: ‘Shaping music in performance: exploring the experiences of violinists and harpsichordists’.
Guildhall School of Music and Drama, 17 – 20 March 2012
Reflective Conservatoire Conference: Performing at the heart of knowledge
Conference presentation: ‘Shaping music in performance: exploring the experiences of violinists and harpsichordists’.
Royal Northern College of Music Research Forum Series, 28 March 2012
Invited talk: ‘Shaping music in performance: exploring the experiences of violinists and harpsichordists’.
February
King’s College London Symphony Orchestra Concert
19 February 2012, 7.30pm, Duke's Hall, Royal Academy of Music
Glazunov: Violin Concerto in A minor (Nora van der Stelt - violin)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Bach's B minor Mass
28 February 2012, 6.30pm, The Chapel, Strand Campus
The Chapel Choir performed with the Royal Academy of Music Baroque Ensemble, with soloists from the choir.
King’s students success in Panufnik Young Composers Scheme
Three composers from the Music Department will have their music rehearsed at a workshop by the London Symphony Orchestra on 11 January, under the prestigious LSO Discovery Panufnik Young Composers Scheme.
Michael Langemann (MMus 2012) and Matt Kaner (BMus 2008) will have three-minute pieces rehearsed at the workshop at LSO St Luke’s, which forms the culmination of the year-long scheme. Both have received tutorials from Composition Director Colin Matthews, input from Composition Support Christian Mason, support from LSO players, and open access to LSO rehearsals and concerts over the year.
In addition, Ed Nesbit (currently working for his PhD with George Benjamin) was awarded a commission after participating in the Scheme in 2010, and his piece Parallels will be performed at the workshops.
Please see http://www.lso.co.uk/composing for more details and to book a free ticket to the workshops.
Bettina Varwig's Histories of Heinrich Schütz published this month
The book places the music of the celebrated Dresden composer Heinrich Schütz in a richly detailed tapestry of cultural, political, religious and intellectual contexts. Four key events in Schütz's career are used to explore his music's resonances with broader historical themes, providing a new kind of musicological writing that interweaves layers of historical inquiry from the seventeenth century to the present day.
The book was featured as 'music book of the month' by the Press in October.
Professor John Deathridge on BBC this week
Professor John Deathridge shall be in a feature on the BBC One Show at 7pm Monday, 31 October, about the 'Devil's Interval', which will include sequences in the King's College Chapel.
On Thursday 3 November on BBC 4, the Symphony series begins, and will air each subsequent Thursday in November. John is the Series consultant and will appear in it now and then, talking to Simon Russell Beale. He has been very involved with the series, however, writing the initial scenario and giving general advice.
Then on Saturday 5 November on Radio 3 John is doing a Building a Library on Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony from 9 to 9.45. This broadcast is meant to co-ordinate with the start of the BBC TV series the previous Thursday.
Martin Stokes appointed new King Edward Professor of Music
It is with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of Martin Stokes, who will become the Department’s new King Edward Professor of Music on the retirement of Professor John Deathridge. Martin will be joining the Department in September 2012. Read the full story.
News from George Benjamin and his former students
George Benjamin’s music has recently been featured in two contemporary music festivals in Europe – in “Auftakt” at Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, and at the “Klangspuren” festival in Austria. Find out all the details of his students achievements.
Premiere of Silvina Milstein’s of gold and shadows
Of gold and shadows was premiered by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group conducted by Oliver Knussen on Sunday 25 September at the CBSO Centre, Birmingham.
You can listen to Silvina talking about her experience of rehearsing of gold and shadows here. Read the full story.
New Chamber Music CD from Rob Keeley
Rob Keeley's latest CD of Chamber Music is now available from Convivium Records - beautiful performances by Rowland Sutherland and the Fidelio Trio. Listen and buy online from their website. The CD can also be found on Amazon.
World Premieres for current and former students
Four of George Benjamin's students at King’s College London will have important premieres in the next few weeks
Martin Suckling’s new song cycle will be played at the Queen Elizabeth Hall by the London Sinfonietta on May 28
Blai Soler’s new ensemble work will feature in a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall given by the London Philharmonic Orchestra on June 8
Edward Nesbit’s new violin concerto will be played at the Royal Festival Hall by members of the Philharmonia Orchestra on June 9
Christian Mason’s new cello piece will be performed by Jean-Guihen Queras at the Aldeburgh Festival on June 21
A pretty impressive list, I hope you agree...