Alex Taylor (composer)

Last updated

Alexander Lawther Taylor (born 1988) is a New Zealand composer, poet and writer.

Contents

Early life and education

Taylor was born in 1988 [1] and attended Westlake Boys High School. [2] At the University of Auckland he studied music and English. [2] In 2011 he received an MMus(Composition) with a folio of compositions for viola and orchestra, piano, clarinet and ensembles. [3] He was supervised by Eve de Castro-Robinson and John Elmsly. [4]

Career

Taylor sings and plays several instruments: piano, violin and saxophone. [5] [6] He lists the 20th and 21st century composers and musicians who have influenced him as: Europeans Anton Webern, György Ligeti and Gérard Grisey, Americans Charles Ives, Morton Feldman, Annea Lockwood and Conlon Nancarrow; New Zealanders Anthony Watson, Samuel Holloway and Eve de Castro-Robinson. [7]

Taylor also writes poetry and specialises in setting words to music. [2] [5] He also composes for small ensembles, orchestras and choirs. In New Zealand the NZSO and ensemble 175 East have performed his music. [5] [6]

In 2012 the National Youth Orchestra premiered his work feel commissioned when he was the orchestra's Composer-in-Residence. [8] It features viola and cor anglais solos. [8] The third movement of the work is [inner] which was his winning entry in the NZSO Todd Corporation Young Composers Award in 2011. [4] [8]

Taylor has been commissioned by Westlake Boys High School to write pieces which have been performed by them: two years later (2013) for male voice choir and a summoning (2016) for the concert band.

In 2016 he attended the Darmstadt new-music/avant garde festival where he presented a show The Unauthorised History of New Zealand Music with New Zealand composer Celeste Oram. [5]

Taylor is currently studying for a PhD at the University of California San Diego under Lei Liang. [9] [10]

Awards and honours

In 2012 Taylor won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award at the APRA New Zealand awards for [inner]. [10] He was the youngest person to receive the award. [2] He won the Composers Association of New Zealand Trust Fund Award in 2013. [10] In 2016 Taylor was the recipient of an Arts Foundation New Generation Awards. [5] [10]

Selected works

Poetry

Articles

Music

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Body</span> NZ composer, ethnomusicologist, photographer and teacher (1944–2015)

John Stanley Body was a New Zealand composer, ethnomusicologist, photographer, teacher, and arts producer. As a composer, his work comprised concert music, music theatre, electronic music, music for film and dance, and audio-visual gallery installations. A deep and long-standing interest in the music of non-Western cultures – particularly South-East Asian – influenced much of his composing work, particularly his technique of transcribing field recordings. As an organiser of musical events and projects, Body had a significant impact on the promotion of Asian music in New Zealand, as well as the promotion of New Zealand music within the country and abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillian Whitehead</span> New Zealand composer (born 1941)

Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead is a New Zealand composer. She is of Māori Ngāi Te Rangi descent. Her Māori heritage has been an important influence on her composing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Psathas</span> New Zealand composer

John Psathas, is a New Zealand Greek composer. He has works in the repertoire of such high-profile musicians as Evelyn Glennie, Michael Houstoun, Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman and the New Juilliard Ensemble, and is one of New Zealand's most frequently performed composers. He has established an international profile and receives regular commissions from organisations in New Zealand and overseas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand Symphony Orchestra</span> National symphony orchestra of New Zealand

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Act 2004. It is currently based in the Michael Fowler Centre and has frequently performed in the adjacent Wellington Town Hall before it was closed in 2013. It also performs in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gareth Farr</span> New Zealand composer, performer and percussionist

Gareth Vincent Farr is a New Zealand composer and percussionist. He has released a number of classical CDs and composed a number of works performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) and Royal New Zealand Ballet. He has also performed in drag under the name Lilith LaCroix in a show called Drumdrag and has also released a CD under that name.

Christopher Marshall is a New Zealand classical music composer who resides in Orlando, Florida, United States.

David Blair Hamilton is a New Zealand composer and teacher.

Andrew Perkins is a New Zealand composer, choral conductor and teacher. He has had a number of works recorded and performed internationally.

Dorothea Anne Franchi was a New Zealand pianist, harpist, music educator and composer.

Eve de Castro-Robinson is a New Zealand composer, professor and graphic designer. Her compositions include orchestral, vocal, chamber and electroacoustic works. She studied at the University of Auckland, where in 1991 she became the first person to receive a DMus from the University. She is Associate Professor of Composition at the University of Auckland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Bowater</span> New Zealand composer

Helen Bowater is a New Zealand composer. She was born in Wellington into a musical family, and studied piano and violin with Gwyneth Brown. In 1982 she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in music history and ethnomusicology from Victoria University of Wellington. She continued her studies in electroacoustic music with Ross Harris and in composition with Jack Body.

Michael F. Williams is a composer of contemporary classical music. He has received commissions from many of New Zealand's major musical institutions such as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, NBR New Zealand Opera and Chamber Music New Zealand and his work is regularly broadcast on Radio New Zealand Concert. A lecturer in composition at the University of Waikato, Williams has received recognition in the NZSO-SOUNZ Readings on three occasions and in the SOUNZ Contemporary Award in 2012 for his multimedia World War II opera, The Juniper Passion.

Kenneth Young is a composer, conductor, radio presenter and lecturer in composition, conducting and orchestration at the New Zealand School of Music, Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington. As a composer, Young has had works commissioned by New Zealand and Australian orchestras and arts organisations including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra New Zealand International Arts Festival and Chamber Music New Zealand. He works as a freelance composer and is fully represented by SOUNZ: The Centre for New Zealand Music. In 1976, Young became the principal tuba for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and first conducted the orchestra in 1985 becoming Conductor in Residence in 1993. In 2001, he resigned from the orchestra to become a full-time conductor, composer and recording artist for orchestras in New Zealand and Australia, as well as engagements in Japan and the United Kingdom. He is well known for his interpretation of Romantic, 20th Century, New Zealand and Australian orchestral repertoire and in 2012 conducted both the winning album, Angel at Ahipara and finalist album, Releasing the Angel, for Best Classical Album at the New Zealand Music Awards. Young has been recorded by EMI, Atoll Records, Continuum, Trust Records, ABC Classics and Naxos and is a frequent presenter on RESOUND, Radio New Zealand Concert introducing and contextualising work from the RNZ archives. In 2004 was awarded the Lilburn Trust Citation in Recognition of Outstanding Services to New Zealand Music.

Dorothy Ker is a New Zealand-born composer of instrumental and vocal music who has lived in the UK since 1992. She is known for her inter-disciplinary collaborations and experimentation with live electronic music performances.

Salina Fisher is a New Zealand composer and violinist currently based in Wellington.

Gamelan orchestral instruments were introduced to New Zealand from Java in 1974. There are several gamelan ensembles in New Zealand and gamelan has influenced many New Zealand composers such as Jack Body and Gareth Farr.

Dylan Lardelli is a New Zealand composer and guitarist. He is of Māori Ngāti Porou and Ngāi Tūhoe descent.

Christopher John Cree Brown is a New Zealand sonic artist and composer of orchestral and electroacoustic works. Now a freelance composer he was an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Canterbury until 2018.

Reuben Jelleyman is a New Zealand composer.

Christopher Thomas Gendall is a New Zealand composer and lecturer in composition at the University of Auckland.

References

  1. ↑ "Taylor, Alex, 1988-". tiaki.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Tan, Rosabel (14 August 2013). "The Grit, The Colour: An Interview with Alex Taylor". Pantograph Punch. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  3. ↑ Taylor, Alexander Lawther (2011). "Composition folio". auckland.primo.exlibrisgroup.com. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Alex Taylor". NZ Opera News: 17. January–March 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Edgington, Anna (November 2016). "2016 New Generation Awards". Applause from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. 22: 14–15 – via NDHA.
  6. 1 2 Dart, William (25 October 2012). "NZ Trio: Youthful composure". NZ Herald. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  7. ↑ Taylor, Alex (14 August 2013). "Sonic Shadows and Personal Mavericks: Ten Composers Who've Shaped My Work". Pantograph Punch. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 "Milestone performance features musical youth of New Zealand". NZ Opera News: 4. July–August 2012.
  9. ↑ "Alex Taylor PhD dissertation recital" (PDF). 12 March 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Alex Taylor - SOUNZ". sounz.org.nz. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  11. ↑ Taylor, Alex (2011). "Eulogies". Potroast. 8: 14–17.
  12. ↑ Taylor, Alex (2008). "For John Cage". Canzona. 29 (50): 26.
  13. ↑ Taylor, Alex (2010). "Sym phony; Industrial popping sounds". J.A.A.M. (Wellington, N.Z.). 28: 152–155.
  14. ↑ Taylor, Alex (2012). "How to listen to a piece of music". Potroast. 9: 29.
  15. ↑ Taylor, Alex (2012). "Close [t/d]; Park bench; Outside, a cold day". Minarets (Online). 2: 38–41 – via NDHA.
  16. ↑ Taylor, Alex (2009). "Strange loops : circular narratives and ambivalence in Samuel Holloway's "Impossible Songs."". Canzona. 30 (51): 32–37.
  17. ↑ Taylor, Alex (2016). "A discourse around music". Applause (Wellington, N.Z.). 22: 16–17 – via NDHA.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.