sound:

photograph © Alison Warne

Jonty Harrison

Jonty Harrison (born 1952) studied with Bernard Rands, David Blake and Elisabeth Lutyens at the University of York, gaining his DPhil in Composition in 1980 and discovering the electroacoustic studio along the way. Between 1976 and 1980 he worked at the National Theatre and City University in London. In 1980 he joined the Music Department of the University of Birmingham, where he is now Professor of Composition and Electroacoustic Music and Director of the Electroacoustic Music Studios and BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre). Over the past 30 years he has taught a number of postgraduate composers from the UK and overseas, many of whom are now themselves leading figures in the composition and teaching of electroacoustic music in many parts of the world. He has made several conducting appearances with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (most notably performing Stockhausen's Momente), the University New Music Ensemble and the University Orchestra. He was a Board member of Sonic Arts Network for many years.

As a composer he has won several awards (Bourges International Electroacoustic Awards; Prix Ars Electronica, Linz; Musica Nova, Prague; the Lloyds Bank National Composers' Award; the PRS Prize; an Arts Council Composition Bursary; a Leverhulme Research Grant and AHRB/C Research Grants) and received commissions from leading institutions and performers (Ina-GRM; GMEB, Bourges; the International Computer Music Association; MAFILM/Magyar Rádió; Electroacoustic Wales/University of Bangor, IRCAM/Ensemble InterContemporain; BBC; Sonorities Festival, Belfast; Birmingham Contemporary Music Group; Fine Arts Brass Ensemble; Nash Ensemble; Singcircle; Thürmchen Ensemble; John Harle; Harry Sparnaay; and Jos Zwaanenburg).

His music is performed and broadcast worldwide, and several works are available on two 'solo' CDs (Articles indéfinis and Évidence matérielle) and a DVD-Audio (Environs) on the empreintes DIGITALes label (Montréal), and on compilation CDs from NMC (London), Mnémosyne Musique Média (Bourges, France), CDCM/Centaur (San Francisco), Asphodel (New York), EMF (New York) and Collins (London).

• website link for Jonty Harrison: artsweb.bham.ac.uk/harrison/
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