John Croft
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| John
Croft (b. 1971) studied philosophy and music at the Victoria University
of Wellington, and composition and music cognition at the University of
Sheffield. He has a PhD from the University of Manchester, where he
studied with John Casken, and is a Laureate of the Jurgenson Foundation
of Moscow. He is currently Head of Music at Brunel University, West
London. His music draws on the spectral properties of sounds as the
basis for harmonic and temporal structures, and recent work focusses on
the use of live electronics in ways that extend rather than obscure the
bodily relationship between performer and instrument; examples include Sonata (la terra lagrimosa...una luce
vermiglia) (2006), for cello and live electronics and ne l'aura che trema
(2007) for alto
flute and live electronics. His music has been played by many ensembles
and soloists, including the BBC Philharmonic, the London Sinfonietta,
the Arditti String Quartet, Ensemble Exposé, Studiya Novoi Muzyki, 175
East, Stroma, Philip Thomas, Matthew Barley, Richard Craig, and Xenia
Pestova. He also teaches and writes on the philosophy of music. He is
currently commencing work on an opera-monodrama for Lore Lixenberg,
entitled A Fury's Curses. '...beautifully focused and concentrated, yet mysteriously suggestive.' Ivan Hewitt, The Telegraph '...an enchanting tapestry [which] created an ethereal imprint of Monteverdi like an indentation on a pillow.' Paul Conway, The Independent '...a superminimalist and a gourmet of chamber writing.' Tamara Grum-Grzhimailo, Literaturnaya Gazeta, Moscow |