Christopher Swithinbank: Adopt a Composer
Commissioned by:
King Edward Music Society
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Chris Swithinbank was born in the Netherlands in 1988 to British parents and spent most of his childhood living in Luxembourg. Studying first cello, he began to experiment with composition at the age of 12, receiving his first public performance aged 16 at the Centre Culturel de Rencontre Abbaye de Neumünster as part of events to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
Chris moved to Britain to study music at the University of Manchester, graduating in July 2009 with a First-Class Honours Degree. During his time as an undergraduate he was awarded a Hargreaves Fund Prize for his research into the string quartets of Helmut Lachenmann. Following his bachelor’s degree, Chris continued his studies at Manchester under the supervision of Ricardo Climent and supported by a Harry Clough Bursary, graduating with distinction from the MusM Masters in Composition course. Alongside his academic studies, Chris has also participated in masterclasses and private lessons with Krzysztof Meyer, Pierluigi Billone, Rebecca Saunders, Beat Furrer and Philippe Hurel. Chris is currently following the ‘Cursus 1’ programme at IRCAM in Paris, supported by an Entente Cordiale Scholarship from the French state.
Chris works with both acoustic instruments and electronic sounds, exploring traditional concert situations and more innovative presentation contexts. His music has recently been performed at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Centre Acanthes, Kings Place, Royal Academy of Music, Encuentros Cuenca, Wrexham Arts Festival, MANTIS Festival, York Spring Festival of New Music and New Music North West by musicians such as Trio Atem, Psappha Ensemble, Mario Caroli, Pierre-Stéphane Meugé, Donatienne Michel-Dansac and Vincent Leterme, and has been workshopped by Manchester Camerata, Richard Casey, Ian Pace, Eva Furrer and the Quatuor Danel. For 2010-11, Chris was commissioned to take part in the Adopt a Composer scheme supported by Sound and Music, PRS for Music Foundation, Making Music and BBC Radio 3, collaborating with the King Edward Musical Society of Macclesfield on a new orchestral work, June Unfolding.
Chris is a co-founder of Raise Your Voice Collective, a group of young performers and composers based in Manchester, UK. He has appeared as a performer of live electronics in music by Martin Suckling, Kaija Saariaho, Anna Clyne, Lyle Mays and Fredrik Högberg, with both the Raise Your Voice Ensemble and Psappha Ensemble. He also undertakes musicological research, giving an illustrated talk on Helmut Lachenmann’s Gran Torso with the Quatuor Danel. ‘Into the Lion’s Den: Helmut Lachenmann at 75’ was published in the July 2011 issue of Tempo.
Find out more about King Edward Music Society.