Alex Taylor (composer)

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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

References

  1. ↑ "Taylor, Alex, 1988-". tiaki.natlib.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. 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. Archived from the original on 11 November 2024. 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. Archived from the original on 11 November 2024. 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. Archived from the original on 11 November 2024. 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.


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