Thanks to the wonderful Redgrave/Lines/Quigley piano trio for working with our first year students. We're into our 10th year and each summer concert is a department highlight, showcasing the wide range of compositional approaches and creative responses from our students.
â¨đś Itâs all go, go, go with the composition department! đśâ¨
We have been averaging 5 concerts a week, with our fabulous final studentsâ concerts culminating a yearâs worth of hard work with their major projects.
On top of that, two lovely concerts last Thursday by student composers, featured no fewer than 14 premieres of brand new works.
The second year composers have been collaborating closely with a bespoke wind ensemble, made up of players from the wind department, shaping and refining pieces through rehearsal time and performance. Itâs been a brilliant chance to hear their ideas come to life in such a direct and practical way.
Alongside this, other students have been working with the Mela Guitar Quartet. The results were imaginative, varied, and full of character.
A rewarding day and a real showcase of the creativity and commitment coming out of the Conservatoire.
Deep gratitude to the @melaquartet and @rbcwoodwind !
đ¸ @jaayyms
Well done to our BMus 1 students for staging and composing new music for their first showcase concert! A wide range of compositional approaches bound together by unique responses to a sea theme. So wonderful to see the students collaborating with performance students, and such a lovely turnout in support of all their hard work!
The end of last week was special. The @quatuorbozzini brought sensitivity and great performances to our studentsâ work, shaping pieces that explore sonic narratives, pieces that moved through fractured harmony and the mesmeric glitches of tape degradation.
Fridayâs Thallein concert was curated by the third years. We flipped the stage and turned the Bradshaw Hall into a full living room, with lamps borrowed from the composition offices; no shame. Sofas, soft lighting and intimate energy, like youâve come round to someoneâs yard and they just happen to be premiering new music.
We shared five student pieces examining art and politics: gendered injustice, working class marginalisation, the role of government and collective responsibility, while questioning the symbolism and hierarchies embedded in tradition, and interrogated how political meaning is absorbed into genre.
We closed with Julius Eastmanâs âmilitant queer dichotomyâ Gay Guerrilla combating and challenging racial and sexual politics.
We cordially invite you to spend this evening with @royalbirmcons âs Thallein Ensemble as they present a concert curated by our third year composers called âCommunity, Class, Connectionâ. This concert explores these ideas through new music that feels thoughtful and relevant. Through carefully curated works and intimate performance, Thallein creates room to pause, listen and consider 6 responses to art and politics that sit behind the music, including Julius Eastmanâs incredible âGay Guerillaâ.
This is an opportunity to experience live performance in a way that feels personal and considered. Weâve flipped the stage and weâre bringing audiences into the action. Join us: 7:30pm, Bradshaw Hall.
What a week itâs been and weâre only just getting started! đ With major projects reaching their grand finale and two concerts just around the corner, the energy is high and the momentum is real.
On Tuesday, our brilliant 4th years had the incredible opportunity to work with composer and sitarist @peteyelding .The session was packed with fresh ideas, creative experimentation, and diverse compositional approaches, the perfect blend of inspiration and much-needed stress relief at this busy point in the semester.
We also swapped our creative lab session to learn from Senior Lecturer in Accountancy Mark Hunt, alongside his second year students Ben and Melissa, who delivered an invaluable lab session covering all things tax for composers. Because being a creative professional means knowing your craft and your numbers.
Creativity, collaboration, career skills all in one week. And weâre not done yet⌠@quatuorbozzini and @royalbirmcons âs Thallein New Music Ensemble will perform our studentsâ pieces and Julius Eastmanâs âGay Guerillaâ Thursday and Friday evening.
Thank you @fionatroon for working with our students on this wonderful collaboration with the woodwind department! Itâs sounding fantastic! Artwork by @ezmeroze đ¨đď¸đźď¸
