UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 30 NOVEMBER 2009
A former Birmingham Conservatoire student is heading to Canada's Rocky Mountains for a highly prestigious music residency.
Andy Garbi, who gained a postgraduate qualification at the Conservatoire, which is part of Birmingham City University, is to attend the Banff Centre for the Arts. Selected by a panel of judges from hundreds of applicants from across the globe, Andy will spend a month exploring new vocal techniques presided over by the world-renowned composer John Adams. Andy was awarded a Banff scholarship as well as winning sponsorship from world-leading electronic music giants Roland and has also gained the approval of the Arts Council of England for his research.
Described in Classic FM magazine as the ambassador for British New Music, Andy's solo album The Sound of One received critical acclaim from national and international press upon its release last year and has been played on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM and a host of radio stations across the world.
His emotive musical style has also been selected twice already to represent the UK for music internationally - gaining letters of commendation from the Royal Netherlands Embassy and the Arts Council of England. He has also previously won The Birmingham Conservatoire Masters Prize, The Channel 4 Ideasfactory Film Music Award and the PRS Foundation ATOM Award.
"The Banff Centre is the holy-grail for artists - I am very honoured to be going, it is quite simply an opportunity of a lifetime. Banff is one of the few places on the planet where creators who are at the cutting edge of their field rub shoulders with world leaders in politics, religion, technology, science and philosophy. My music was submitted back in January - I heard nothing for months and then just a few weeks ago I had an email to say congratulations, welcome to Banff!"
Andy ‘s music is influenced by extreme climates, having already journeyed to Iceland, the Polish Tatra Mountains and the Himalayas he should be very much at home at -30 degrees. You can follow Andy on Twitter or at http://www.andygarbi.com/
Added by on November 30, 2009