Life

He was born in Hemel Hempstead

Hemel Hempstead

Hemel Hempstead is a town in Hertfordshire in the East of England, to the north west of London and part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2001 Census was 81,143 ....

 of Welsh and English parents. He studied music from a young age and played in various orchestras and ensembles before turning his back on the classical world in his late teens for the lure of the burgeoning Post-Punk scene.

During the 1980s and 90s he wrote for and performed with a number of bands and artists including MSQ whose song Modern World (co-written with long-time collaborator and friend Darren Hillier) was released to Europe-wide acclaim by Unicorn Records in 1989. MSQ later recorded for Bluebeat Records, a label owned by Buster Bloodvessel of Bad Manners

Bad Manners

Bad Manners are an English 2 Tone ska band. They quickly became the novelty favourites of the UK pop scene through their bald outsized frontman's on-stage antics, earning early exposure through their Top of The Pops exploits and an appearance in the live film documentary, Dance Craze.They were at...

. In 1997 he wrote and played on Acid Jazz band Junction 8's West Skyline EP and in 2000 he wrote and played on Feels so good, a UK Garage song by Anella Kissoon for Storm Records. His final release in the Pop world was his most successful, the debut album by Smooth Jazz artist Kevin East.

However March had grown increasingly tired of Pop genres and returned to formal classical study at Blackheath Conservatoire with Benjamin Rous in 2005. He then studied with David Sutton-Anderson and Avril Anderson

Avril Anderson

Avril Anderson is an English music educator and composer.-Biography:Avril Anderson was born in Southsea, Hampshire, England. In 1972 she entered the Royal College of Music where she studied with Humphrey Searle and John Lambert...

 at Birkbeck, University of London

Birkbeck, University of London

Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...

 in 2006/7 before studying for his masters (mmus.) in music composition at Goldsmiths, University of London with the New Complexity Composer Roger Redgate

Roger Redgate

Roger Redgate is a British musician.He was born in Bolton, Lancashire. He graduated at the Royal College of Music, where he won prizes for composition, violin performance, harmony and counterpoint. A DAAD scholarship enabled him to study with Brian Ferneyhough and Klaus Huber in Freiburg...

 from 2008 to 2010. There he also studied with the Russian composer Dmitry Smirnov

Dmitry Smirnov

Dmitry Smirnov may refer to:*Dmitri Aleksandrovich Smirnov , Russian footballer*Dmitri Aleksandrovich Smirnov , Russian footballer*Dmitri Alexeievich Smirnov , Russian tenor...

 who have up much of his own time to provide one to one guidance to him.

During this period March's experience as a composer grew steadily thanks to performances across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. In December 2009 his piano work Momenta was performed at the Royal Festival Hall

Royal Festival Hall

The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...

 as part of the Park Lane Group's Symposium. The performance drew praise from leading figures in the classical world including Paul Patterson

Paul Patterson

Paul Patterson is a British composer and Manson Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music.Patterson studied trombone and composition at the Royal Academy of Music. He returned there to become Head of Composition and Contemporary Music until 1997, when he became Manson Professor of...

, Timothy Salter and Giles Easterbrook. He was also invited as a guest composer to address students at the University of Middlesex and Cambridge University. He has since presented his music and ideas at other events including the Composer/Performer Collaboration in Athens in 2011 and has given a series of presentations in collaboration with pianist/dancer Marilyn Wyers demonstrating how their distinct areas of research complement each other.

March's music is driven by a desire to reflect events in post-globilization society through the structure and technical aspects of his work whilst also postulating a distinct harmonic language. He has introduced a new form of composing using soundbites which he argues are the prevalent modern communication culture for which he cites the popularity of text messaging, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, YouTube etc. For large form works he has fashioned a two-movement form in which the opening movement (the Summary) presents a series of contrasting ideas as short soundbites and the second movement (the Elaboration) demonstrates how these may be fully developed alongside transitional material. He has also introduced new techniques including Polyfluidity of which there are several categories, each rooted in though not imitative of events in real life.

He has also begun to introduce a deconstructive element into his compositional methods largely inspired by his interest in the philosopher Jacques Derrida

Jacques Derrida

Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher, born in French Algeria. He developed the critical theory known as deconstruction and his work has been labeled as post-structuralism and associated with postmodern philosophy...

.

Aside from his musical endeavours, March has been a long-time supporter of the Labour and Trade Union movements, an active trade union official who has worked as a national negotiator for the union Public and Commercial Services Union

Public and Commercial Services Union

The Public and Commercial Services Union is the sixth largest trade union in the United Kingdom. Most of its members work in government departments and other public bodies although some work for private companies.- Membership and organisation :...

 and describes himself as a democratic Socialist who believes in the historic long-term influence of social democracy on changing attitudes across society.

List of compositions

• Youth and Discovery: Four piano pieces (1980/81)
• Nearness of the beloved (1981) for Baritone & Piano (text from Goethe)
• State of Mankind (1982) for String Quartet
• Reality Attack (1983) for Solo Viola
• Fugue & Fantasia (for Orchestra) (2008)
• Twenty Four Hours (2008) for Orchestra
• Contemplations on an untitled work by Andreas Schulze (2008) for performance by Laura Jay (Flute) & Philip Lawton (Piano)
• Metamorphoses (2008) for Orchestra
• Fluctuation: Graduation: Transformation (2008) for Organ
• 12 (for String Quartet) entered for Sound & Music Call for Composers
• Sonata for Piano (2009) commissioned by Coreen Morsink
• Heptagon (2009) commissioned by Goldsmiths Flute Quartet
• Momenta (2009) commissioned by Emma Firth (Piano)
• The Raven (2009) for Cn Lester (Soprano) & Philip Lawton (Piano)
• Motion: Stasis: Motion (2009) commissioned by Nomos Project
• Fanfare (2009) for opening of Composer/Performer Collaboration Concert, Deptford Town Hall
• Diversions (2009) premiered and frequently performed by Marilyn Wyers (Piano)
• As the facts emerge (2010) commissioned by Nomos Project
• No Surrender (2010) commissioned by Marilyn Wyers
• Into the night (2010) commissioned by Tunde
• Entanglement (2010) composed for Arditti Quartet
  Arditti Quartet
  The Arditti Quartet is a string quartet founded in 1974. The quartet is associated particularly with contemporary music.-Early history:The quartet was founded in 1974 by violinist Irvine Arditti together with John Senter, Levine Andrade and Lenox Mackenzie...
  
  Competition
• Construction (2010) for Orchestra
• The Twin Track (2011) commissioned by Marilyn Wyers
• Snapshots (2011) commissioned by Nomos Project
• People come people go (2011) for Chamber Ensemble
• Shifting Sands (2011) commissioned by Laura Jay & Emma Firth
• AntiMusic (2011) for Arditt String Quartet competition

Forthcoming

• Lament (2011) for Marilyn Wyers and Solo Soprano
• Deconstruction I (2011/12) for Zubin Kanga
• We control you (2011/12)) commissioned by Danae Eleni Nee-Pallikaropolous, Tom Jackson, Enrico Bertelli & Marilyn Wyers

Discography

• The Boilerhouse Tapes EP - The Electrostats (Zap) 1980
• The Juggler (TV Advert, Scottish TV) - Juggler Collective 1983
• Modern World - MSQ (Unicorn Records) 1989
• West Skyline - Junction 8 (MSQ Music) 1997
• Feels so good - Anella Kissoon (Storm Records) 2000
• Kevin East - Kevin East (Ravensbourne Records) 2003
• Everything you do - Kevin East (Ravensbourne Records) 2003
• Everything you do (club mix) - Kevin East (Soul Unsigned) 2009
• When are you gonna give in - Kevin East (Soul Unsigned) 2010