Philip Venables

Philip to write new opera for Royal Opera House

25 August 2013

From GSMD Press release: Philip Venables to research and write major work for performance at the ROH Linbury Studio Theatre in 2016. The Guildhall School of Music & Drama in association with the Royal Opera House recently announced composer Philip as the first Doctoral…

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Portrait Concert / 30 June / St Luke’s

10 May 2013

Fight music The first ever portrait concert of my work will be at LSO St Luke’s in London on 30th June 2013. The concert features five recent pieces from the last few years, performed in the concert by the Ligeti…

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The Revenge of Miguel Cotto preview

30 May 2012

The preview version of The Revenge of Miguel Cotto was premiered on 16th May at Village Underground in Shoreditch, London.  What a great evening!  The London Sinfonietta were performing, conducted by Richard Baker, with vocalists Leigh Melrose and Alexander Robin…

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Sketches for The Revenge of Miguel Cotto

7 March 2012

The Revenge of Miguel Cotto, the work that Steve Fowler and I are working on for the London Sinfonietta Blue Touch Paper project, is going well.  The work is moving at a fast pace now, and I’m having some mentoring…

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New blog-site for the UNLEASHED anti-opera project

10 February 2012

We’ve just got together the new blog site for the UNLEASHED anti-opera project that I’m doing with director Nick Blackburn.  Check it out here.

Selected for Blue Touch Paper

10 January 2012

I’m delighted to have been selected with poet Steven J Fowler for the London Sinfonietta’s new Blue Touch Paper scheme. We were selected in October for our project that is an immersive, 45-minute-long  semi-staged piece for ensemble, electronics and vocalists,…

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Contrasts in Space // video: Sebastian Schmidt

Contrasts in Space (video)

20 December 2011

Contrasts in Space was screened at the British Film Institute on 1st December, alongside the premiere of my new soundtrack for it, featuring tape and live viola. Ensemble Amorpha were performing. Contrasts in Space is a black and white film by Sebastian…

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K, prelude to Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet (video)

29 November 2011

K, a prelude to the Mozart Clarinet Quintet Performed by: Endymion Location: Kings Place Date: September 2010.    

numbers 91–95 (video)

26 November 2011

World premiere of Numbers 91-95 Music: Philip Venables Text: Simon Howard Performed by: Ensemble Adapter Location: Casino Baumgarten, Vienna (Wien Modern Festival) Date: 10th November 2011

‘Signals’ featuring the Metamorphoses after Britten

12 October 2011

I just received a copy of the Signals volume of new music for oboe. It features my Metamorphoses after Britten in it, and I also designed the front cover. The volume was edited by the amazing Melinda Maxwell, for whom…

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Wonderful reviews of numbers 76-80 : tristan und isolde

7 October 2011

numbers 76-80 : tristan und isolde was performed brilliantly by EXAUDI and Endymion under the direction of James Weeks on Monday 19th September.  I was really delighted, and the Purcell Room at Southbank was pretty busy too. There was a wonderful…

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Contrasts in Space // video: Sebastian Schmidt

Contrasts in Space

7 October 2011

So – very busy at the moment with a number of big projects that I’ll be telling you about in the next few weeks, hopefully. But this week I’ve been working on a short instrumental + tape piece to accompany…

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…dark and violent, and so so gay.

26 August 2011

Last week’s performance of Fuck Forever was reviewed by www.sosogay.com. “There were some really great little works in among the chaff….. Philip Venables’ Fuck Forever managed to tease out a dark and violent portrait of sexual desire.” Definitely a line I will…

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BBC Radio 3, In Tune, with Phoenix Piano Trio

7 June 2011

Wonderful news: one of the movements (the Scherzo) from my new piano trio, Klaviertrio im Geiste, will be performed live on BBC Radio 3 on Friday afternoon, 10th June, from about 4.45pm.  It’ll be performed by the Phoenix Piano Trio as part…

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‘FLIPP’ premiere. Unerhörte Musik, Berlin.

6 June 2011

Well – a few weeks ago I went along to the premiere at Unerhörte Musik in Berlin, of my new short saxophone duo, Flipp, which I wrote for Christoph Enzel and Adrian Tully.  I have to say that the piece…

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