Roderick Watkins
Encyclopedia
Roderick Watkins is a composer
and Professor of Composition and Contemporary Music at Canterbury Christ Church University
, Kent
, England
.
Watkins was educated at Gresham's School
and then took a degree in Philosophy and Composition at Oberlin in the US before studying at the Royal Academy of Music
, where he won all of the Academy's main prizes for composition, completed his doctorate and became a Leverhulme Fellow. His teachers included Hans Werner Henze
, Richard Hoffmann, and Paul Patterson
. He also spent a year at IRCAM
in Paris
and later returned to IRCAM
as a “compositeur en recherche” (research composer).
At Christ Church
, he is Programme Director for undergraduate Music and teaches composition and contemporary music. In 2005, he was appointed Professor of Composition and Contemporary Music.
in April 1997, and given its UK premiere at the Almeida festival in July of that year by the London Sinfonietta
conducted by Markus Stenz
. In 2003 he produced the electronic material for Henze’s opera L’Upupa.
Orchestral compositions include Red Light, Who Walked Between, Still, and Light's Horizon.
Electro-acoustic compositions include The Looking Glass and Sound in Space.
Chamber music includes A Valediction: of Weeping, Last Light (for clarinet and piano), and At the Horizon (for flute and piano), a Clarinet Quintet and Breath. A piece for harpsichord and electronics, entitled After Scarlatti, was premiered on 29th April 2009 at the Sounds New Festival in Canterbury.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and Professor of Composition and Contemporary Music at Canterbury Christ Church University
Canterbury Christ Church University
Canterbury Christ Church University is a university in Canterbury, Kent, England. Founded as a Church of England college for teaching training it has grown to full university status and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2012. The focus of its work is in the education of people going into...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Watkins was educated at Gresham's School
Gresham's School
Gresham’s School is an independent coeducational boarding school in Holt in North Norfolk, England, a member of the HMC.The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free grammar school for forty boys, following King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Augustinian priory at Beeston Regis...
and then took a degree in Philosophy and Composition at Oberlin in the US before studying at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, where he won all of the Academy's main prizes for composition, completed his doctorate and became a Leverhulme Fellow. His teachers included Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
, Richard Hoffmann, and 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...
. He also spent a year at IRCAM
IRCAM
IRCAM is a European institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organizationally linked with, the Centre Pompidou in Paris...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and later returned to IRCAM
IRCAM
IRCAM is a European institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organizationally linked with, the Centre Pompidou in Paris...
as a “compositeur en recherche” (research composer).
At Christ Church
Canterbury Christ Church University
Canterbury Christ Church University is a university in Canterbury, Kent, England. Founded as a Church of England college for teaching training it has grown to full university status and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2012. The focus of its work is in the education of people going into...
, he is Programme Director for undergraduate Music and teaches composition and contemporary music. In 2005, he was appointed Professor of Composition and Contemporary Music.
Compositions
Watkins' compositions include a full-length opera, The Juniper Tree, premiered at the Munich BiennaleMunich Biennale
The Munich Biennale is an opera festival in the city of Munich. The full German name is Internationales Festival für neues Musiktheater, literally: International Festival for New Music Theater. The biennial festival was created in 1988 by Hans Werner Henze and is held in even-numbered years over...
in April 1997, and given its UK premiere at the Almeida festival in July of that year by the London Sinfonietta
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble specialises in contemporary music and works across a wide range of genres, performing modern classics alongside world premieres, and includes music by electronica artists as well as folk and...
conducted by Markus Stenz
Markus Stenz
Markus Stenz is a German conductor. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik Köln with Volker Wangenhein and at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa....
. In 2003 he produced the electronic material for Henze’s opera L’Upupa.
Orchestral compositions include Red Light, Who Walked Between, Still, and Light's Horizon.
Electro-acoustic compositions include The Looking Glass and Sound in Space.
Chamber music includes A Valediction: of Weeping, Last Light (for clarinet and piano), and At the Horizon (for flute and piano), a Clarinet Quintet and Breath. A piece for harpsichord and electronics, entitled After Scarlatti, was premiered on 29th April 2009 at the Sounds New Festival in Canterbury.