4.48 Psychosis has been shortlisted in two categories for the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards 2017. The opera was nominate for the Large-Scale Composition award and the Opera & Music Theatre award. Both shortlists, and the rest of the nominees, are quite a formidable…
Manchester International Festival 2017 was launched today, including the Music for a Busy City. This project takes six composers out of the concert hall and into the city of Manchester, making music for public spaces through which people pass every day. I will…
4.48 Psychosis has been nominated for an Olivier Award, in the category Best New Opera Production. The award ceremony is at the Royal Albert Hall on 9th April, and we are up against Akhnaten (ENO), Cosi Fan Tutte (ROH) and…
I’m delighted to announce that I have been awarded a grant from the Composers’ Fund, supported by the PRS for Music Foundation and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, if you want to know more of the foundation go to this website….
I’ll be taking part in the British Composers Showcase at the Casa da Musica in Porto from 20–22 January 2017. The event is organised by the British Council and will be attended by European new music promoters and funders, Karen…
I will be taking up a three-week residency at MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire, USA, in May 2017. I’m delighted to have a place at this prestigious colony, America’s oldest, to work with Director Ted Huffman on an exciting new music…
We’ve just returned from a wonderful week working in the Britten Studio at Snape Maltings with Aldeburgh Music. I was there as part of the Size Zero Opera team, including singer and composer Laura Bowler and stage director Patrick Eakin…
The Revenge of Miguel Cotto has been selected for inclusion in the 2017 MATA Festival in New York City. The festival will take place in April, and the performance will be the American premiere of the piece. More details to follow.
I’m delighted to say that we have just won the award for Achievement in Opera at the UK Theatre Awards 2016. The Royal Opera and Guildhall School of Music & Drama, in association with the Lyric Hammersmith, were nominated…
I’m delighted to announce that, thanks to the incredible Laura Bowler, the PRS for Music Foundation have awarded us a substantial grant for our new verbatim opera project. Laura is a vocal performer and founder and Artistic Director of Size Zero…
Here’s a copy of the introductory essay to my work that John Fallas very beautifully wrote as an introduction to 4.48 Psychosis. It was commissioned by the Royal Opera for the 4.48 Psychosis programme booklet. A new kind of opera John Fallas Where…
The critics’ response to the world premiere of 4.48 Psychosis has been incredible. 4.48 Psychosis is my first finished opera, produced by the Royal Opera at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith in April and May 2016. Here are some excerpts from the…
The Royal Academy of Music has just announced their Honours List for 2016, and I’m delighted to say I will be made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. The ceremony with be in May, and they will also…
Text: Simon Howard Ligeti String Quartet Voices: Natalie Raybould, Lewis Bretherton, George Chambers, Ashley Mercer Recorded at LSO St Luke’s, 29th June 2013. Recording produced by Andrew Morgan Video by Mark Hermida With thanks to LSO St Luke’s, the Esmee…
Dutch Courage, my piece for amateur ensemble, has just been released by NMC. The new disc is called Open Score and it is a collaboration with Contemporary Music for Amateurs (CoMA), for whom I wrote Dutch Courage when I was a student at the…
Bound to Hurt is up on the Theater Basel website now, although tickets will only be on sale in May. However, the performance dates will be 15, 16, 17, 18 June 2016, as part of the Theater Basel season and…
Illusions, my collaboration with David Hoyle and the London Sinfonietta, has been selected for the New Music Biennial in 2017. That means that we will revive the work and hopefully recalibrate it for the political events of that year, and…
Score and more info here This recording was made at LSO St Luke’s on 29th June 2013. It will be released on my solo album in 2018. Text: Simon Howard Speaker: Nick Blackburn Flute: Katie Bicknell Harp: Olivia Jaguers Woodblock: Matthew…
I’m delighted to have been able to contribute to the London Sinfonietta‘s Notes to the New Government on Saturday at the Southbank Centre. David Hoyle and I worked on an ‘in-yer-face’ piece called Illusions which was based on the message: democracy is an…
Numbers 91-95 by Philip Venables (music/concept) and Simon Howard (text) Performed by students at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama: Alex Knox (speaker), Jack Welch (flute), Caolan Walpot (harp), Sam Wilson (woodblock). 4th December 2014.
