Thomas Simaku: The Composers’ Fund
Thomas Simaku’s music has been reaching audiences across Europe, USA, and further afield for some thirty years, and it has been awarded a host of accolades for its expressive qualities and its unique blend of intensity and modernism.
In recent years Simaku has focused on a cycle of highly virtuosic solo pieces for various instruments; his Soliloquy V – Flauto Acerbo received a BASCA Award, which the judging panel described as visionary and entirely original.
Major works include Concerto for Orchestra – the winning work of the Lutosławski Prize (2013), and The Scream for String Orchestra (2017). Thomas Simaku is a Reader in Composition at York University.
The award from the PRS Foundation will contribute substantially towards the cost of recording and producing a new CD on the BIS Records label. The CD will include my string quartets Nos 4 & 5, and works for solo piano.
String Quartet No 4 was written especially for Quatuor Diotima who gave the world premiere at HCMF in 2011, followed by performances at Alicante International Festival and York University; whereas String Quartet No 5 was commissioned by HCMF and received its world premiere in 2015. The piano works include a new piece for Joseph Houston.
Thomas Simaku has worked with the Paris-based Quatuor Diotima for a decade; and his collaboration with British pianist Joseph Houston, now based in Berlin, began when he was an undergraduate at York.