James Clarke: The Composers’ Fund
James Clarke, born in London in October 1957, has written over one hundred compositions, for symphony orchestra, solo musicians and for ensembles. They include seven works written for the Arditti String Quartet; four for the ensemble Klangforum Wien; several for the pianist Nicolas Hodges, including two for piano and orchestra; some for unusual forces, such as 2015-M for 308 musicians; a radio opera in collaboration with Harold Pinter. He has worked with some of the finest interpreters of new music, including, as well as those mentioned, Ernest Bour, Johannes Kalitzke, Harry Sparnaay, Ilan Volkov, Jürg Wyttenbach and Hans Zender.
The Composers’ Fund will enable James to compose and record a substantial new work for the Colorado Symphony Orchestra to be performed in Denver, Colorado, in the 2019-2020 season, and released on CD together with an earlier work for piano and orchestra, ‘Untitled No.2’, which was recorded by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, soloist Nicolas Hodges, conductor Ilan Volkov, in 2011. This will be the first CD of Clarke’s orchestral music, none of which has appeared on CD before, and his first opportunity to write for an American orchestra and a major symphonic concert in the USA.