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Alex Taylor (composer)

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Alexander Lawther Taylor (born 1988) is a New Zealand composer, poet and writer.

Early life and education

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Taylor was born in 1988[1] and attended Westlake Boys High School.[2] At the University of Auckland he studied music and English.[2] In 2011 he received an MMus(Composition) with a folio of compositions for viola and orchestra, piano, clarinet and ensembles.[3] He was supervised by Eve de Castro-Robinson and John Elmsly.[4]

Career

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Taylor sings and plays several instruments: piano, violin and saxophone.[5][6] He lists the 20th and 21st century composers and musicians who have influenced him as: Europeans Anton Webern, György Ligeti and Gérard Grisey, Americans Charles Ives, Morton Feldman, Annea Lockwood and Conlon Nancarrow; New Zealanders Anthony Watson, Samuel Holloway and Eve de Castro-Robinson.[7]

Taylor also writes poetry and specialises in setting words to music.[2][5] He also composes for small ensembles, orchestras and choirs. In New Zealand the NZSO and ensemble 175 East have performed his music.[5][6]

In 2012 the National Youth Orchestra premiered his work feel commissioned when he was the orchestra's Composer-in-Residence.[8] It features viola and cor anglais solos.[8] The third movement of the work is [inner] which was his winning entry in the NZSO Todd Corporation Young Composers Award in 2011.[4][8]

Taylor has been commissioned by Westlake Boys High School to write pieces which have been performed by them: two years later (2013) for male voice choir and a summoning (2016) for the concert band.

In 2016 he attended the Darmstadt new-music/avant garde festival where he presented a show The Unauthorised History of New Zealand Music with New Zealand composer Celeste Oram.[5]

Taylor is currently studying for a PhD at the University of California San Diego under Lei Liang.[9][10]

Awards and honours

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In 2012 Taylor won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award at the APRA New Zealand awards for [inner].[10] He was the youngest person to receive the award.[2] He won the Composers Association of New Zealand Trust Fund Award in 2013.[10] In 2016 Taylor was the recipient of an Arts Foundation New Generation Awards.[5][10]

Selected works

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Poetry

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  • Seven prose poems[11]
  • For John Cage[12]
  • Sym phony; Industrial popping sounds[13]
  • How to listen to a piece of music[14]
  • Close [t/d]; Park bench; Outside, a cold day[15]

Articles

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  • "Strange loops : circular narratives and ambivalence in Samuel Holloway’s “Impossible Songs.”" Canzona, 2009; v.30 n.51, 32–37[16]
  • "A discourse around music." Applause (Wellington, N.Z.), Nov 2016; n.22, 16–17[17]

Music

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  • Four landscapes (2008) – for string quartet
  • [inner] (2011) – a mini viola concerto
  • Study of two pears (2011) – a song cycle for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble
  • Burlesques mecaniques (2012) – for piano trio
  • Feel (2012) – for full orchestra
  • two years later (2013) – for male voice choir
  • Horn concerto : hydraulic fracture (2015) – for horn and orchestra
  • a summoning (2016) – for concert band
  • Four little pieces (2017) – for cello and piano
  • Night (2018) text by H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), 'Night' from her 1916 collection Sea garden
  • Assemblage (2019) – for orchestra with painting machine
  • On what grounds (2021) – a suite for violin, cello and theorbo
  • Asymptote (2021) – for piano trio
  • Obtuse strategies (2023) – for piano

References

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  1. ^ "Taylor, Alex, 1988-". tiaki.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Tan, Rosabel (14 August 2013). "The Grit, The Colour: An Interview with Alex Taylor". Pantograph Punch. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  3. ^ Taylor, Alexander Lawther (2011). "Composition folio". auckland.primo.exlibrisgroup.com. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Alex Taylor". NZ Opera News: 17. January–March 2012.
  5. ^ a b c d e Edgington, Anna (November 2016). "2016 New Generation Awards". Applause from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. 22: 14–15 – via NDHA.
  6. ^ a b Dart, William (25 October 2012). "NZ Trio: Youthful composure". NZ Herald. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  7. ^ Taylor, Alex (14 August 2013). "Sonic Shadows and Personal Mavericks: Ten Composers Who've Shaped My Work". Pantograph Punch. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  8. ^ a b c "Milestone performance features musical youth of New Zealand". NZ Opera News: 4. July–August 2012.
  9. ^ "Alex Taylor PhD dissertation recital" (PDF). 12 March 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d "Alex Taylor - SOUNZ". sounz.org.nz. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  11. ^ Taylor, Alex (2011). "Eulogies". Potroast. 8: 14–17.
  12. ^ Taylor, Alex (2008). "For John Cage". Canzona. 29 (50): 26.
  13. ^ Taylor, Alex (2010). "Sym phony; Industrial popping sounds". J.A.A.M. (Wellington, N.Z.). 28: 152–155.
  14. ^ Taylor, Alex (2012). "How to listen to a piece of music". Potroast. 9: 29.
  15. ^ Taylor, Alex (2012). "Close [t/d]; Park bench; Outside, a cold day". Minarets (Online). 2: 38–41 – via NDHA.
  16. ^ Taylor, Alex (2009). "Strange loops : circular narratives and ambivalence in Samuel Holloway's "Impossible Songs."". Canzona. 30 (51): 32–37.
  17. ^ Taylor, Alex (2016). "A discourse around music". Applause (Wellington, N.Z.). 22: 16–17 – via NDHA.
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