sound:

Graham Fitkin was born in 1963 and lives and works as a composer in Cornwall. He works with acoustic and electronic instruments, collaborates with dance, film and digital media alongside concert orchestral and chamber music, and enjoys involvement throughout the chain of music making - performing, conducting, producing and educating.

Graham has collaborated with many of today's foremost performers of new music including Powerplant, Nederlands Blazersensemble, Yo-Yo Ma, Kathryn Stott, Will Gregory, Smith Quartet, Piano Circus, Ensemble Bash, Combustion and Elysian Quartet.

A 'Composer Award' in 1990 led to a new work for David Massingham Dance. Ever since then Graham has worked frequently with choreographers with recent performances being given by Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, Wayne McGregor's Random Dance, Pacific Northwest Ballet, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Bi-Ma, Sidonie Rochon, Munich Ballet and National Ballet of Portugal. He won the International Grand Prix Music for Dance Award in 2000.

Between 1994 and 1996 Graham was resident composer with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra producing five new works. Since then commissions have come from the Halle, BBC Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, RSNO, BBC Orchestra of Wales, Athens Camerata, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Nederlands Radio Orchestra etc. He has conducted orchestras in venues from Lincoln Center to South Bank to Aula Magna.

KAPLAN (based on the fictitious character in Hitchcock's North by Northwest) used video and live webcams on the musicians to focus on notions of mistaken identity and toured the UK, Japan and Holland in 2005. The more recent STILL WARM for multiple electronically manipulated harps, featuring Ruth Wall, toured UK in 2007 with visuals by Marc Silver and Nick Corrigan. Concerned with the juxtaposition of opposites, this placed early gaelic plucked instruments into new contexts with digitalia and live visuals.

Over the past 15 years Graham has directed educational and community projects including 3 UK PRS Composer residencies, 9 regional community projects, university seminars, masterclasses and directed workshops in UK, Japan, Italy and Soweto.

Recent works include the double concerto for two Pianos and Orchestra - CIRCUIT, for soloists Kathryn Stott and Noriko Ogawa, PAWN for the Duke Quartet, LENS for Janine Jansen at the Concertgebouw in Holland and SINEW for the Fibonacci Sequence. There have been recent collaborations with Powerplant, visual artist John Keys and the Royal Ballet. Since 2007 he has been Composer in Residence with London Chamber Orchestra.

Graham's work has been released on CD by Decca's Argo label, Factory Classical, Sanctuary's Black Box, Sony, EMI and his own label. Circuit has just been released with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra on BIS record label.

In 2010 and 2011 there are new commissions for Yo-Yo Ma at the BBC Proms, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and the premiere of a new production for the Royal Ballet. His new ensemble is also touring the UK in 2010.

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The Graham Fitkin Ensemble are: Simon Haram - soprano/alto saxes +ewi | Nick Moss -sop/alto/tenor saxes + bass clarinet | Noel Langley - trumpets, flugel horn | Adrian Spillett - percussion, vibraphone, drums | Joby Burgess - percussion, marimba, drums | Graham Fitkin - piano | Alan Thomas - guitars, mandolin | Ruth Wall - wire strung, bray and lever harps | John Lunn - bass

• website link for Graham Fitkin: www.fitkin.com
• events with Graham Fitkin in previous sound festivals
• other artists and composers involved in sound 2010
• sound events in 2010