Upcoming concerts...
6th and
7th December
Alan plays with the Charles Hazlewood All Stars in a live recreation of
Mike Oldfield's seminal work "Tubular Bells". The band includes
Adrian Utley from Portishead as well as Goldfrapp's Will Gregory, and
should be a blast to play as well as to hear.
Tuesday 6th: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Wednesday 7th: The Sage, Gateshead, Newcastle
December
2011
A cool collaboration...
I've recently been working with harpist Eleanor Turner to develop a new project called "Elusive Symmetry". Inspired by the work of M.C. Escher, I'm writing some new music for us to play with live computer processing, combining elements of minimalism, avant-something or other and electronica. The project also features the fantastic hip-hop dancer Lizzie Gough, and will be premiered in a series of shows in February. Get more info at
September
2011
An amazing experience...
The final night of the Sacrum Profanum Festival in Krakow (Poland) found me playing Steve Reich's "Electric Counterpoint" with live remixing by Aphex Twin (one of my musical heroes). It was very cool, very bizarre, and sadly I have a feeling that playing for 5000 people in a giant steel factory filled with lasers (and Steve Reich on his 75th birthday) is an experience that for me is unlikely to be repeated...
September
2011
New YouTube links...
The
Thracian Quartet playing Sivi grivi in India
Denis Azabagic playing Out of Africa (part 1)
Denis Azabagic playing Out of Africa (part 2)
May
2011
New Compositions
and Recordings...
I was delighted
to be invited as featured composer/preformer at the inaugural Sarajevo
International Guitar Festival in April. Run by the inspirational Bosnian
guitarist Dani Sehu, this festival represents a major new event for the classical
guitar. It was a truly a fantastic festival, with concerts by Roland Dyens
among others. In addition to serving on the competition jury and teaching
a masterclass, I
was commissioned to write a new piece to be premiered in my festival concert
on 7th April, 2011. The new piece for solo guitar is called "Heart No
Longer Mine", and is a sort of fantasy on the Bosnian song "Ah,
sto cemo ljubav kriti". Hopefully I'll be able to put a recording up
on this site soon.
****************
The outstanding
Cavatina Duo (guitarist
Denis Azabagic and flautist Eugenia Moliner) continues to play the two pieces
they commissioned me to write as part of their "Balkan Project".
These have now been performed throughout the world, and have been released
on CD on Cedille Records (see the Recordings
page). This
work is now being taken up by some other duos, and I've recently added some
new movements to the Balkan Songbook collection.
Check them out here!
In further flute
and guitar news, the Cavatina Duo has recently given another two performances
of my
Concerto for Flute and Guitar.
The piece was premiered at the Guitar Art festival in Serbia in February 2010,
and is in a traditional three movement concerto structure, drawing inspiration
from the music of the two performers' homelands (Spain and the former Yugoslavia).
Since the premiere, the duo has given further performances of the work with
the Traverse Symphony Orchestra (Michigan), the Sarajevo Philharmonic and
at the Monterrey Guitar Festival in Mexico. The concerto has now been played
6 times in the last year!
Commissions I'm currently working on include new
pieces for solo guitar with live computer processing, a piece for prepared
piano, and two further works commissioned by the Cavatina Duo. The first of
these is an arrangment of two movements from my Balkan Songbook for the duo
plus Indian musicians to play on their Summer tour of India. The second is
a set of variations on the Carnival of Venice.
February 2011 Concerto Revision...
In February 2011 I performed a newly revised version of my Guitar Concerto (Rhapsody on a Spanish Theme) with the Helix Ensemble conducted by the excellent Natalia Luis-Bassa. In his Leicester Mercury newspaper review of the premiere of the concerto, Neil Crutchley wrote "Alan Thomas was the excellent soloist in the premiere of his own Rhapsody on a Spanish Theme for Guitar and Orchestra - a three-movement work of lush harmonies and memorable melodies written in a rich, romantic style that pays homage to Rachmaninov. It was very appealing and enjoyable, with the composer making ingenious use of the work's opening theme."
January 2011 Teaching, Examining...
In addition to teaching at the University of York, I've recently been appointed as external examiner at Leeds College of Music (a role I already perform at Huddersfield University).
June 2009
Lennon/McCartney CD...
My latest CD, a 2 disc set of Lennon/McCartney arrangements titled The Long and Winding Road continues to garner critical praise. Classical Guitar magazine's Chris Dumigan wrote "This is all beautifully done, lots of fun and all wonderfully played and should be owned by anyone interested in fine guitar playing and/or the music of the Beatles." More info...
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