Composition
With seven staff composers and around 30 research students in composition, York is one of the most active departments in the world in new music creation and performance. Our composers publish and record work across a broad range of contemporary idioms, including orchestral music, vocal music, digital music, music-theatre, improvised music and jazz. Composers at York have the advantage of working in collaboration with research students in performance, and with departmental performing ensembles and visiting professional musicians. There is a weekly composers seminar series which brings visiting composers to York to speak about their work.Staff projects
Prof William Brooks
William Brooks is a musicologist and composer, and he likes to think that in his work each domain informs the other. In any case, his compositional interests include music that makes reference to other music - which, he would argue, is always the case. A few of his pieces are available from the Frog Peak Collective.
Dr Jonathan Eato
Jonathan Eato has a particular interest in improvised music, interdisciplinary performance, music for dance, and idiosyncractic uses of technology. Although he has written orchestral pieces and song cycles for western art music performers etc., he is increasingly concerned with non-standard performance practices and with musical material that escapes notation. He regularly collaborates with composer Craig Vear in the duo ev2.
Dr Ambrose Field
Ambrose Field writes music involving humans and digital technology. He is three time award winner at the international Prix Ars Electronica, Linz, with honoury mentions for digital media in 1997, 1998, and 2006. His music is broadcast regularly by the BBC, and is recorded by Sargasso (London), Centaur Records (USA), and ORF (Austria). Ambrose's work encompases: live digital performance, studio composition, installation, postmodern aesthetics, network collaboration, field recording, surround video and high-resolution immersive media.
Prof Roger Marsh
Roger Marsh has particular interests in vocal music and music theatre. The combination of music and text holds a particular fascination for him, and his works range from pieces made with minimal text (A Little Snow) to works involving lengthy and detailed narrative (Il Cor Tristo). He also composes instrumental music, and many of his works have been inspired in some way by traditional Japanese music (for example Kagura and Atsumari). He has also worked on audio-book productions of Dante’s Divine Comedy and the novels of James Joyce. A forthcoming project is to record the whole of Finnegans Wake, unabridged. His music is published by Chester Novello and by Peters Edition London.
Dr Thomas Simaku
Thomas Simaku’s main compositional interest is in orchestral and instrumental music. His most recent output includes a number of works for string instruments as well as solo pieces. His music is published by University of York Music Press and Emerson Edition.
In his 50th year a Naxos CD of his music performed by the Kreutzer Quartet has prompted enthusiasm for his compositions for strings. The CD was recently reviewed on Die Neue Platte programme of Deutschlandradio in Cologne. The review can be read at the UYMP site.
Dr John Stringer
John Stringer is a composer and conductor. Recent pieces include Lied: Red Elegy for solo cello, Disquiet for piano, Tondal's Vision for saxophone and ensemble, and Disquiet II for piano.
Dr Martin Suckling
Martin Suckling is a composer and violinst. Martin has benefited from residencies at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldeburgh, Aspen, and IRCAM, and has won numerous awards including the 2008 Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize. He has recently been adopted as a Faber 'House Composer'.