Wednesday 3 March 2021, 12-2pm [online via Minerva]

Simon Holt is a composer whose music demands unusual commitment from his interpreters – his intricate sound-worlds often comprise complex, rich textures, offset by ‘still centres’ – for the purpose of making music which speaks with extraordinary power. He was born in Bolton, Lancashire on 21 February, 1958. He immersed himself in playing the organ and piano as well as visual art during his sixth form years at Bolton School. In 1976, he attended Bolton College of Art for a year where he fulfilled a foundation course in all areas of visual representation. Inspired by Messiaen, Xenakis and Feldman as well as visual artists such as Goya, Giacometti and Brâncusi, his music is innately dramatic and impulsive in nature. His output is diverse, consisting of chamber music, concertos, songs, opera, orchestral and piano music.

In this conversation with Matthew Sergeant, Simon will be exploring three recent pieces, a table of noises (2007, a percussion concerto), troubled light (2008, for orchestra) and his third string quartet (2013).