Asteryth Sloane

Last updated

Xia Leon Sloane
Born
Alexia Sloane

2000 (age 23–24)
NationalityEnglish
Occupation(s)Composer
Poet
Known forContemporary classical composing
Website http://www.inspirarts.com/

Asteryth Sloane (formerly Xia Leon Sloane) [1] is a British composer of contemporary classical music and a poet. They were the winner of the 2016 Cambridge Young Composer of the Year competition and also one of seven winners of the Classic FM/Royal Philharmonic Society 25th Birthday Commissions in 2017. In 2018 they won the senior category of the BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers' competition.

Contents

Composer

Sloane began composing music through improvisation at the age of six and started taking formal lessons when they were twelve. Common themes that run through their compositions are those of nature (particularly climate change), philosophy and psychology, taking much inspiration from Buddhist, environmental and synaesthetic imagery. As well as vocal music, they enjoy writing for unusual combinations of instruments and the setting of texts from languages and cultures such as Basque and Mandarin. Sloane sees the arts as a means through which people can reconnect and this is the focus of much of their work. The use and effect of silence in music fascinate them, as does the use of music as a form of deep self-expression. [2]

Their compositional method is to strongly imagine the pitches they wish to be played or sung, away from any instrument. They then write the pitches down in Braille music notation before dictating them to an amanuensis who transcribes them onto notation software. [3]

Sloane was an Aldeburgh Young Musician from 2015-2016 and studied Composition at the Royal College of Music Junior Department in London from 2016-2018. During that time they were also a composer with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the Britten Sinfonia Academy. In 2018, they began studying Composition at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, where they hold a scholarship, under the tutelage of Professor Emily Howard.

In 2016, Sloane was the first female composer to win The Cambridge Young Composer of the Year Competition with the piece Passiflora. [4] In 2017 they were one of seven winners of the Classic FM/Royal Philharmonic Society 25th Birthday Commissions [5] and also won the Royal College of Music Junior Department Joan Weller Composition Prize. [6] The following year they were awarded the Humphrey Searle Composition Prize, again by the RCM Junior Department.

Their choral piece Longing for Equinox was highly commended in the 2017 BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers' Competition [7] and they won the senior category of that same competition in 2018 with their piece Elegy for Aylan. As a result, the piece was performed by the Aurora Orchestra in August 2018 as part of the BBC Proms series. [8] In July 2019 Sloane made their official Proms debut with their BBC commissioned piece, Earthward, which was performed by VOCES8 at Cadogan Hall. [9] Sloane is also now an ambassador for the BBC Proms Inspire Competition. [10]

Performers

The following ensembles, groups and choirs have performed Sloane's compositions:

Venues

Sloane's compositions have been performed at the following venues:

Poet

Sloane began writing poetry at an early age. In 2014 they were the 14 and under Category Winner of The Stephen Spender Prize for Poetry in Translation [11] and, aged sixteen, self-published Hushed Skies, an Anthology of their own verse. Sloane often uses their own poems as a source of inspiration to inspire some of their compositions.

Personal life

Sloane announced in August 2020 via their Twitter account that they had changed their name to Xia Leon Sloane. [12]

Sloane has been blind since they were two years old. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Adès</span> British composer, pianist and conductor

Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: The Tempest (2004), Violin Concerto (2005), Tevot (2007), In Seven Days (2008), and Polaris (2010).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Whitacre</span> American composer (born 1970)

Eric Edward Whitacre is an American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music.

Julian Anderson is a British composer and teacher of composition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Tin</span> American composer

Christopher Chiyan Tin is an American composer of art music, often composed for film, television, and video game soundtracks. His work is primarily orchestral and choral, often with a world music influence. He won two Grammy Awards for his classical crossover album Calling All Dawns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Chilcott</span> English choral conductor and composer

Robert Chilcott is a British choral composer, conductor, and singer, based in Oxfordshire, England. He was a member of the King's Singers from 1985 to 1997, singing tenor. He has been a composer since 1997.

Mark Simpson is a British composer and clarinettist from Liverpool. In 2006, he became notable for winning both the BBC Young Musician of the Year and the BBC Proms/Guardian Young Composer of the Year, making him the first and, to date, only person to win both competitions.

David Bruce is a British composer and a YouTuber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cadogan Hall</span> Concert hall in Chelsea, London

Cadogan Hall is a 950-seat capacity concert hall in Sloane Terrace in Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England.

Cheryl Ann Frances-Hoad is a British composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Hesketh</span> British composer

Kenneth Hesketh is a British composer of contemporary classical music in numerous genres including dance, orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo. He has also composed music for wind and brass bands as well as seasonal music for choir.

Joo Yeon Sir, is a South Korean-born British violinist and composer.

Simon Dobson is an English composer particularly noted for his brass band compositions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Howard</span> British composer (born 1979)

Emily Howard is a British composer whose work is best known for its inventive connections with mathematical shapes and processes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bertie Baigent</span> British musician (born 1995)

Robert Edward Series "Bertie" Baigent is a British conductor, composer, and organist.

This is a summary of the year 2017 in British music.

Andrew March is an English composer. He was the winner of the first-ever Masterprize Composition Competition with his piece Marine — à travers les arbres. Andrew studied composition at the Royal College of Music with Jeremy Dale Roberts, graduating in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Armstrong</span> British composer (born 1991)

Lucy Armstrong is a British composer based in London, who was appointed Fellow of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London in 2018. She is currently doing a three year residency at Glydnebourne.

Grace-Evangeline Mason is a British composer of contemporary classical music.

Freya Waley-Cohen is a British-American composer based in London.

Daniel Kidane is a British composer. His piece "Woke" opened the last night of the 2019 Proms.

References

  1. ↑ "Trip the Light Fantastic: Extended Concert Programme | Thu 30 Nov". Bristol Beacon. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  2. ↑ Article about Sloane on the Royal Philharmonic Society website
  3. ↑ @7 magazine show video on the Cambridge TV website, as broadcast on Cambridge TV [ permanent dead link ], relevant section located at 4 mins 25 secs in.
  4. ↑ Adam Care, "Blind teenage schoolgirl named as Cambridge Young Composer of the Year for LGBT-inspired composition", Cambridge News, 11 November 2016
  5. ↑ "Classic FM’s 25th Birthday Commissions: the winners" article on the Classic FM website
  6. ↑ "BBC Proms commission for RNCM composer" article on the RNCM website, posted 17 June 2019
  7. ↑ "BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers’ Competition 2017 winners" article on the BBC website
  8. ↑ concert information page on the Royal Philharmonic Society website
  9. ↑ "Proms at ... Cadogan Hall 1: VOCES8" page on the BBC website
  10. ↑ "BBC Proms Inspire" page on the BBC website. Reference to Sloane is located under the "Inspire alumni and Ambassadors" section
  11. ↑ List of prizewinners on the Stephen Spender Trust website
  12. ↑ @XiaLeonSloane (1 August 2020). "It's daunting to put this out there, but after much searching I have settled on a name: I will now materialise in…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ↑ Xia Leon Sloane on Studying Composition and a Commission for the BBC Proms (Episode 28) at Braillecast; published 11 February 2021; retrieved 2 November 2024
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.