Andrew Ford (composer)

Andrew Ford OAM (born 1957) is an English-born Australian composer, writer, and radio presenter, known for The Music Show on ABC Radio National.

Early life and education

Andrew Ford was born in 1957 in Liverpool, UK. ^{[1] [2]}

He attended St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, Kent, then studied at Lancaster University with Edward Cowie and John Buller. As a student, a meeting with Sir Michael Tippett had a profound influence on him, when he told him "to forget about musical systems and trust his instincts". ^[2]

Career

Ford was Fellow in Music Bradford University from 1978 to 1982. ^[3]

After moving to Australia, he lectured at the School of Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong, NSW, from 1983 to 1995, ^[3] and during this time earned a doctorate for his thesis on musical word setting from Elvis Costello to Elliott Carter. ^[2]

Ford was composer-in-residence with the Australian Chamber Orchestra (1992–94), ^[2] held the Peggy Glanville-Hicks Composer Fellowship from 1998 to 2000 and was awarded a two-year fellowship by the Music Board of the Australia Council for the Arts for 2005 to 2006. ^[4] He was appointed composer-in-residence at the Australian National Academy of Music in 2009. ^[2]

Other activities

He has written widely on music and published or co-written eleven books. For the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, he wrote, presented and co-produced the radio series Illegal Harmonies, Dots on the Landscape, Music and Fashion, Earth Dances and Three Front Doors a Paddock (with painter Ben Quilty) ^[2]

Since 1995 he has presented The Music Show on ABC Radio National. ^[2]

Recognition and awards

• 1982: Yorkshire Arts Composers Award, joint winner (with Mark-Anthony Turnage) for Portraits ^[2]
• 1998: Peggy Glanville-Hicks Composer Fellowship, a two-year fellowship during which he began work on The Waltz Book ^[2]
• 1998: Pascall Prize for critical writing ^[2]
• 1998: Sydney Spring Festival award, for Tattoo ^[2]
• 2002: Jean Bogan Prize, for The Waltz Book ^[2]
• 2004: Paul Lowin Song Cycle Prize, for Learning to Howl ^[2]
• 2007: shortlisted, Prix Italia, for his radiophonic work Elegy in a Country Graveyard
• 2010: Green Room Award, for the music for the opera Rembrandt's Wife ^[2]
• 2012: Albert H. Maggs Composition Award for his work Rauha ^[2]
• 2013: shortlisted, Paul Lowin Prize, for Blitz and Willow Songs
• 2014: Poynter Fellow and visiting composer at Yale University ^[2]
• 2015: visiting lecturer at the Shanghai Conservatory ^[2]
• 2016: shortlisted, Paul Lowin Prize, for Last Words ^[5]
• 2016: Order of Australia Medal ^[2]
• 2018: H. C. Coombs Creative Arts Fellow at the Australian National University ^[2]
• 2020: Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award, Facilitator's Prize (awarded 2021) ^[6]

APRA / Art Music Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). ^[7] They include the Art Music Awards (until 2009 Classical Music Awards) which are distributed by APRA and the Australian Music Centre (AMC). ^[8] These awards include: ^[4]

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2004	Learning to Howl – Ford	Best Composition by an Australian Composer [9]	Won
2005	Tales of the Supernatural – Ford – Australian String Quartet, Jane Edwards	Vocal or Choral Work of the Year [10]	Won
2008	Ford	Outstanding Contribution by an Individual [11]	Nominated
2009	Learning to Howl – Ford – Arcko Symphonic Project	Best Performance of an Australian Composition [12]	Nominated
2011	A Dream of Drowning – Ford – West Australian Symphony Orchestra	Work of the Year – Orchestral [13]	Nominated
2013	Blitz – Ford – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra	Work of the Year – Orchestral [14]	Nominated
2014	Last Words – Ford – Jane Sheldon and the Seraphim Trio	Work of the Year – Vocal/Choral [15] [2]	Won
	String Quartet No. 5 – Ford – Australian String Quartet	Work of the Year – Instrumental [16]	Nominated

Selected works

Stage works

• Poe, opera (1983, premiered 1985, Sydney Opera House) ^[17]
• Whispers for tenor and chamber orchestra (1990)
• Casanova Confined for baritone and backing track (1995)
• Night and Dreams: The Death of Sigmund Freud for tenor and backing track (1999)
• Rembrandt's Wife (libretto by Sue Smith), opera (2007–2009) ^[2]
• Peter Pan, children's opera (2017), for Gondwana Choirs

Orchestral

• Concerto for Orchestra (1980)
• The Big Parade (1986)
• Manhattan Epiphanies for string orchestra (1999)
• The Furry Dance (1999)
• Scenes from Bruegel for chamber orchestra (2006)
• Headlong (2006), for 75th birthday of Sydney Symphony Orchestra
• Symphony (2008)
• Bright Shiners for string orchestra (2009)
• Blitz for orchestra, (optional) chorus and pre-recorded voices (2011)
• Big Bang for orchestra (2019)
• The Meaning of Trees for orchestra (2020), for Australian Youth Orchestra, premiered 2022 ^[2]

Concertos

• Piano Concerto: Imaginings (1991)
• The Great Memory for cello and orchestra (1994)
• The Unquiet Grave for viola and chamber orchestra (1997–1998)
• Raga for electric guitar and orchestra (2015–2016)

Vocal and choral

• A Martian Sends a Postcard Home for tenor, horn and piano (1986), words by Craig Raine
• Wassails and Lullabies for SATB choir and percussion (1989), recorded by ABC Classics
• Harbour for tenor and string orchestra (1992)
• The Past for counter-tenor, flute and string orchestra (with ad lib didgeridoo) (1997), a setting of Oodgeroo Noonuccal's poem 'The Past' and excerpts from James Cook's ship's log
• Learning to Howl for soprano, clarinet/sax, harp and percussion (2001)
• Tales of the Supernatural for folk singer and string quartet (2002)
• An die Musik for SATB choir (2005)
• Elegy in a Country Graveyard for SATB choir, brass or concert band (flexible instrumentation) and pre-recorded voices and instruments (2007)
• Domestic Advice for soprano and piano (2007)
• A Singing Quilt for SATB choir, percussion ensemble and pre-recorded voices (2008)
• Willow Songs: six poems of Anne Stevenson for soprano, mezzo-soprano and mixed ensemble (2009)
• Waiting for the Barbarians for large chorus (2011), based on the poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
• Last Words, song cycle for piano trio and soprano (2013 premiered by Anna Goldsworthy, Seraphim Trio, Jane Sheldon) ^[18]
• The Drowners for baritone and chamber orchestra (2015)
• Missa brevis for SATB choir and organ (2015)
• Comeclose and Sleepnow for singer and jazz ensemble (2016), to words by Adrian Henri, Brian Patten and Roger McGough
• Nature for mezzo-soprano and ensemble (2019), to words by Jen Hadfield, R.S. Thomas, Robert Adamson, Tomas Tranströmer, Maria Takolander, Edward Thomas and W.B. Yeats
• The Blessing for mezzo-soprano and oboe (2021), libretto by J.M. Coetzee based on a scene from his novel Elizabeth Costello
• Red Dirt Hymns for voices and instruments (2020–24), lyrics by Jordie Albiston, David McCooey, John Kinsella, Ellen van Neerven, Judith Bishop, Judith Beveridge, Sarah Holland-Batt, Stephen Edgar, Kate Fagan, Merlinda Bobis, Mark Wakely, Felicity Plunkett, Philip Harvey, Erik Jensen, Jill Jones, Maria Takolander, Melanie Horsnell, Martha Marlow, Alison Flett and Lisa Brockwell
• I Sing the Birth for children's choir and electric guitar (2024)

Ensemble

• Chamber Concerto No 3: In Constant Flight for solo violin and ensemble (1988)
• Ringing the Changes for piccolo, bass clarinet and piano (1990)
• Pastoral for string octet (1991)
• Tattoo for 12 timpani (6 players) and 4 pianos (1998)
• Icarus Drowning (1998)
• Chamber Concerto No. 4 (2002)
• Sad Jigs for string quintet (2005)
• A Reel, a Fling and a Ghostly Galliard (String Quartet No 2) (2006)
• Oma kodu for clarinet and string quartet (2006)
• Nine Fantasies about Brahms for piano trio (2009)
• On Winter's Traces for piccolo, bass clarinet, piano and string quartet (2009) for the 30th anniversary of the Australia Ensemble
• The Rising (2010) for the Black Dyke Band
• The Scattering of Light for piano quartet (2010) commissioned to mark the centenary of the University of Queensland
• String Quartet No 3 (2012) for the Brodsky Quartet
• String Quartet No 4 (2012) for the NOISE String Quartet
• String Quartet No 5 (2013) for the Australian String Quartet
• Uproar for 11 trombones and four bass drums (2013)
• Common Ground for two string quartets (2014)
• Contradance for 11 players (2015)
• String Quartet No 6 (2014–17) for the Flinders Quartet
• Scenes from Streeton (2019) for Arcadia Winds
• String Quartet No 7: Eden Ablaze (2020) for the Brodsky Quartet and William Barton
• Machnamh: ruminations on a tune by Seán Ó Riada (2022) for the Brodsky Quartet and William Barton

Instrumental

• Like Icarus ascending for solo violin (1984)
• Swansong for solo viola (1987)
• Spinning for solo alto flute (1988)
• The Very End of Harvest for viola and piano (2000)
• The Waltz Book (60 one-minute waltzes for solo piano, 2002; commissioned by Ian Munro) ^[2]
• War and Peace for violin and percussion (2004)
• Chorales from an Ox Life for viola and double bass (2007)
• Folly for solo piano (2007)
• You Must Sleep, but I Must Dance for viola and percussion (2010)
• On Reflection for two pianos (2012)
• Once upon a time there were two brothers...for flute and voice (2013)
• Hook for solo vibraphone (2018)
• In My Solitude for solo viola (2020)
• Confused Alarms for horn and piano (2021)
• Irish Tunes for piano (2024)
• Deep Riffs for electric guitar and looping pedal (2024)

Radiophonic

• Deirdre of the Sorrows (1989)
• Elegy in a Country Graveyard (2007)
• Untuning the Sky (2013)

Books

• Composer to Composer: Conversations about Contemporary Music (paperback) Sydney: Allen & Unwin 1993, ISBN   1-86373-443-0, (hardback) London: Quartet 1993, ISBN   0-7043-7061-1, 2nd edition (paperback) Sydney: Hale & Iremonger 1997, ISBN   0-86806-631-1)
• Illegal Harmonies: Music in the 20th Century Hale & Iremonger 1997, ISBN   0-86806-635-4; 2nd ed. Sydney: ABC Books 2002, ISBN   0-7333-1130-X, expanded 3rd ed. Melbourne: Black Inc., ISBN   978-1-86395-528-7)
• Undue Noise: Words about Music (paperback). ABC Books. 2002. ISBN   0-7333-1057-5.
• Buzacott, Martin; with Andrew Ford (2005). Speaking in Tongues: The Songs of Van Morrison (paperback). ABC Books. ISBN   0-7333-1297-7.
• In Defence of Classical Music (hardback). ABC Books. 2005. ISBN   0-7333-1594-1.
• The Sound of Pictures: Listening to the Movies from Hitchcock to High Fidelity (paperback). Melbourne: Black Inc. 2010. ISBN   978-1-86395-510-2.
• Try Whistling This: Writings about Music (paperback). Melbourne: Black Inc. 2012. ISBN   978-1-86395-571-3.
• Earth Dances: Music in Search of the Primitive (paperback). Melbourne: Black Inc. 2015. ISBN   978-1-86395-712-0.
• The Memory of Music (paperback). Melbourne: Black Inc. 2017. ISBN   978-1-86395-949-0.
• with Anni Heino (2019). The Song Remains the Same: 800 Years of Love Songs, Laments and Lullabies (paperback). Melbourne: La Trobe University Press. ISBN   978-1-76064-011-8.
• The Shortest History of Music (paperback). Melbourne: Black Inc. 2024. ISBN   978-1-76064-408-6. (hardback) London: Old Street Publishing 2024. ISBN 978-1-913083-65-6. (paperback) New Delhi: Picador India 2025 ISBN 978-93-6113-316-9.

References

1. "Ford, Andrew, 1957-". Social Networks and Archival Context. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
2. "About Andrew Ford". Andrew Ford. 11 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.^{[ non-primary source needed ]}
3. Joyce Kennedy; Michael Kennedy; Tim Rutherford-Johnson, eds. (2013). "Ford, Andrew". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music (5th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780199578108 . Retrieved 30 July 2024.
4. Andrew Ford : Represented Artist, Australian Music Centre
5. "Australian Music Centre Online : Breaking Sound Barriers".
6. "Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award to Andrew Ford". Andrew Ford. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2023.^{[ non-primary source needed ]}
7. "APRA History". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
8. "Classical Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 28 September 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
9. "2004 Winners – Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
10. "2005 Winners – Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
11. "2008 Finalists – Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
12. "2009 Finalists – Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 18 September 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
13. "Art Music Awards 2011 – finalists announced". Australian Music Centre(AMC). Retrieved 15 April 2014.
14. "Art Music Awards 2013 – finalists announced". Australian Music Centre (AMC). Retrieved 15 April 2014.
15. "2014 Art Music Awards – winners". Australian Music Centre (AMC). Retrieved 7 March 2017.
16. "2014 Art Music Awards – finalists". Australian Music Centre (AMC). Retrieved 7 March 2017.
17. Poe – The Terror of the Soul, work details at Australian Music Centre
18. Last Words Archived 25 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine , program notes and texts

Further reading

• "Composer's subterranean half-century" . The Sydney Morning Herald . 15 March 2007.

External links

• Official website
• The Music Show, ABC Radio National