University News Last updated 27 November
Visiting Professor in Composition Richard Ayres made a flying visit to RBC recently to work closely with students and the Thallein Ensemble.
The week culminated in a concert inspired by Ayres’ Islands, an ensemble work dedicated to the mystery that has drawn in explorers for centuries. The piece is itself influenced by a geographic book by author Judith Schalansky titled Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I Have Never Set On and Never Will.
As a child, Schalansky used an atlas as an escapist outlet to take imaginary journeys to places inaccessible to her. As a composer of international status, Ayres similarly uses his ensemble to embark on creative journeys into the unknown.
The concert, held on Friday 21 November at Bradshaw Hall, featured original compositions by Composition students Kat Farn, Millicent B James, Max Knight, Emma Pascoe and Wiktor Wysocki, who each created new works exploring the theme of Islands.
Born in Cornwall in 1965, Ayres attended Darmstadt and Dartington summer schools, and studied composition, electronic music and trombone at Huddersfield Polytechnic. He moved to The Hague for postgraduate study in composition and decided to settle in Holland permanently.
In 1994, he was awarded the International Gaudeamus Prize for composition, and in 2003 received the Vermeulen Prize, the highest honour for a composition in the Netherlands. That same year he was Featured Composer at the Huddersfield Festival.
RBC’s Thallein Ensemble works with contemporary classical music, usually in chamber music format.
Professor of Composition Joe Cutler said:“RBC’s Composition Department is delighted to have Richard Ayres as our Visiting Professor. Richard is one of the most original and creative composers working today, and staff and students always find his visits inspirational. Using the notion of Islands as a creative starting point, our gifted students created such imaginative and wonderful responses to Richard’s work.”
MMus student Millicent B James said: “I enjoyed having my piece performed with the Thallein Ensemble. It was also lovely to hear everyone else’s response to the Islands theme – every piece was different from the next! Richard has always been a big inspiration for me, so being able to compose a piece for this concert was an honour.”