Ben Oliver

London New Wind Festival performance of ‘Schism’

Ben — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 08:01:44 +0000

‘Schism’ for bass clarinet, violin and piano will be performed for the third time at the London New Wind Festival at St Cyprian’s Church on 28th September at 7.30. It promises to be a great concert with an interesting and diverse programme.

ICP

Ben — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:37:11 +0000

I’m currently working on a new piece for the ICP ensemble as part of the ‘International Composer Pyramid’ run by Sounds New and Coups de Vents. I had a good weekend in Canterbury a few weeks ago where we had some interesting panel discussions, instrument sessions and sessions with our composition mentors, mine being Edwin Roxburgh. I’m working hard on the piece and looking forward to our next weekend meeting in France in September!

ON AIR: Musarc workshop and performance + recording

Ben — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:21:10 +0000

I had a brilliant day yesterday working with the Musarc choir at St. Stephen Walbrook Church. The choir commissioned three composers, Neil Luck, Tom Chant and myself to work with the choir on new pieces. I wrote a new piece ‘Interplay II’ for choir, piano and live electronics. The choir were a joy to work with and their director Cathy Heller Jones did an amazing job conducting my piece. A recording is already available thanks to Joseph Kohlmaier and while I think the electronics could perhaps be louder and further developed I think the piece as a whole is rather effective!

ON AIR: Workshop and Performance at St. Stephen Walbrook, 4pm, 1st July 2010

Ben — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:59:02 +0000

I am working on a new piece for choir, piano and live electronics which the Musarc choir will workshop and perform at St. Stephen Walbrook on 1st July. I’m really excited to be working with Musarc and in such a fantastic space! Please come either to be involved in the workshop or to the concert at 8.30pm.

‘Phil’s Tune’ performance by Young Jazz Hackney, 29th June 2010

Ben — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:33:57 +0000

Young Jazz Hackney will be performing both mine and Chris Ash’s second commissions from the HMDT as part of the PRS Foundation Young Composers’ Scheme at 6.15 on 29th June at the Mermaid Theatre. The Young Jazz Hackney performance is the warm-up for ‘Shadowball’, a new jazz opera by Julian Joseph.

Recording of ‘The Dino Rescue Team’

Ben — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:09:14 +0000

This is a recording of ‘The Dino Rescue Team’ with Dafydd Williams directing! Enjoy!

The Dino Rescue Team - Spitalfields Festival 12th June 2010

Ben — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:04:23 +0000

My new piece ‘The Dino Rescue Team’ will be performed by the Hackney CYM Red and Yellow Choirs, Oliver Senton (narrator), Mobius String Quartet, Caz Wolfson (percussion) and me (piano) in Shoreditch Church at 2pm this Saturday. The piece was written as part of HMDT’s PRS Foundation Young Composers’ Scheme. Tickets are free and it should be great!

‘Flight of Hope’ R&D

Ben — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:42:06 +0000

A few weeks ago I was delighted to work on the R&D work of ‘Flight of Hope’ with the Strike a Chord Theatre Company. I was in charge of the recorded and live electronics for this show which explores some of the issues asylum seekers face in the UK and was directed by Rachel Warr. Fingers crossed the company can get further funding and stage a full production soon.

Broken Society Recording from YCM 2010 in Apeldoorn

Ben — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:27:34 +0000

Had a great week in Apeldoorn last week at the International Composers Meeting 2010 in The Netherlands. This is a recording of my piece, ‘Broken Society’, played by orkest de ereprijs.

Shannon K. McKenzie came up with a fantastic response to the piece. Many thanks to her for letting me post it here:

Only when you shed
Light on the dark
Can you see the darkness

We need to see the dark
To appreciate the light
Otherwise we remain blind

Blind to what’s broken
Unaware and unable
To mend what we can’t perceive

Some shine in the light
Others see it
Yet no one fixes it.

International Young Composers Meeting 2010 - Apeldoorn

Ben — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:31:09 +0000

I’m off to the International Composers Meeting in Apeldoorn in a few weeks which is pretty exciting! I’ve written a new piece, Broken Society, especially for the meeting for ‘orkest de ereprijs’. If anyone wants to come and lives in Holland then the concert featuring all fifteen works by young composers from around the world is on 19th February in Apeldoorn. You can read more and get details on the ‘orkest de ereprijs’ website.