Birmingham Conservatoire : Howard Skempton

• Composition Tutor
• Birmingham Conservatoire
• Faculty of Performance, Media & English
• Phone: c/o +44 (0)121 331 6902

Howard Skempton currently works as a composer, teacher, performer and adjudicator. He studied in London with Cornelius Cardew, who helped him to discover a musical language of great simplicity. Since then he has continued to write undeflected by compositional trends, producing a corpus of more than 300 works - many pieces being miniatures for solo piano or accordion. He calls these pieces "the central nervous system" of his work.

His works range from pieces for solo cello (Six Figures, 1998) and guitar (Five Preludes, 1999), to the Chamber Concerto for 15 players, the Concerto for Hurdy-Gurdy and Percussion and Lento, premiered by the BBC Concert Orchestra in October at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in 2006.

Works have been commissioned and performed by other leading artists including the BBC, Ensemble Bash, OKEANOS and New Noise, and a chamber work for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra's 'Ensemble 10/10' was premiered in May 2007. He recently completed a large scale orchestral work for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and James Gilchrist, which was premiered at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival in 2007 and broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and a setting of John Drinkwater’s poetry to celebrate 30 years of the Coull Quartet’s residency at Warwick University, which was performed by the Coull Quartet and the University of Warwick Chamber Choir in 2008. Other commissions include a work for solo piano for John Tilbury and a large-scale ensemble piece for BCMG.

Major Performances and Recordings

• 2010: First performance of Only the Sound Remains for viola and chamber ensemble - BCMG (cond. James Weeks), CBSO Centre, Birmingham
• 2010: CD 'Bolt from the Blue' - Exaudi, choral music (Mode)
• 2008: CD 'The Cloths of Heaven' - Exon Singers, choral music (Delphian Records)
• 2007: CD 'Ben Somewhen' - Exaudi, choral music and BCMG, chamber works (NMC)
• 2001: CD 'Pianoworks' - John Tilbury, piano (Sony Classical SMK 89617)
• 2001: CD 'Guild of The Flight of Song' - Choir of Queens' College Cambridge (cond. James Weeks), choral collection
• 1997: CD 'Launch' - Ensemble Bash, including Shiftwork (Sony Classical SK69246)
• 1992: CD 'Lento' - BBC Symphony Orchestra (NMC)

British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA)