Wednesday 28 October 2020, 12-2pm [online via Minerva]
Graham Fitkin talks about his compositions and long-standing musical inclinations, including use of patterns, information flow and juxtaposition. Along the way excerpts from a number of pieces will be heard showing how his work has changed over the years.
I compose for live performance, dance, media and installations. I work with acoustic instruments, electronic instruments and field recordings.
Much of my work is for individual performers and I frequently collaborate with Simon Haram, Joby Burgess, Kathryn Stott, Ruth Wall, Yo-Yo Ma, Will Gregory and Adrian Utley. My recent work with small groups and ensembles includes projects with The Sacconi Quartet, The Smith Quartet, Les Percussions Claviers de Lyon, Calefax, Ensemble Bash and Nederlands Blazers Ensemble. Orchestrally I have held composer-in-residence posts with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and London Chamber Orchestra and have been commissioned by the Hallé, BBC Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony Orch, RSNO, Athens Camerata, BBC Symphony Orch, BBC Concert Orch amongst others.
My work has been performed at various festivals including soundfestival, Huddersfield, Glastonbury, Cheltenham, Bath,Vale of Glamorgan, the BBC Proms and the 2012 UK Olympiad.I co-curate the Braemar Festival.
Recent cross-art collaborations include those with Ockham’s Razor (Lost), Tate St Ives (Wynter), Minack Theatre (Son), a VR collaboration with Shezad Dawood (The Shifter Terrarium).
Within the dance world I have composed for Shobana Jeyasingh, Wayne McGregor’s Random Dance, Pacific Northwest Ballet, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Bi-Ma, Sidonie Rochon, Munich Ballet and Portugal National Ballet. I also worked with Jasmin Vardimon on the opera ‘Home’ for the Royal Opera House.
At the moment I am working on a music app for Truro city centre, HFC (Geography) and a music/cycling/tree-planting project with BBC NOW, culminating at the Proms in 2021 (Birch).
