Picture Gallery Composer-in-Residency 2020-21

Now in its fifth year, we set the task for nine sound artists/composers/music creators from across a range of genres to create music and sound installations exploring the wonderful art collection at Royal Holloway.

We are excited to premiere three responses today, where music creators were be tasked to create a new music landscape incorporating the live sounds of the musicians from both New Music Collective and New Voices Consort. These digital installations are accompanied by specially-commissioned videos showing the paintings and spaces that inspired them. 

This event will feature world premieres of music by Kyriakos Costa, Haven, and Cora Bastable. 

How can I watch it?

Our streamed event can be viewed on this page, or on our dedicated Department of Music YouTube channel for 30-days after premiere (link embedded). 

About the Picture Gallery Composer-in-Residence Scheme

This is a ground-breaking residency in which student composers from the Department of Music apply for the opportunity to have their musical responses to the Picture Gallery and some of its wonderful paintings performed by an invited ensemble each year.

This residency is a professional development programme for music creators of the Department of Music to receive specialist, industry-standard workshop sessions and tutorials, working collaboratively with invited artists, ensembles and tutors to create new works that are premiered as part of the International Concert Series. 

These new compositions are the result of a special collaboration between the College’s Art Curator Dr Laura MacCulloch and Nathan James Dearden, a College Composer, Conductor of the New Music Collective and Performance Manager at the Department of Music.

To find out more about the scheme, how to apply, or about our current and past cohort, please visit this dedicated page.