Simon Holt

Simon Holt next to a sculpture of St. Vitus in the cauldron, 2017

Simon Holt (born February 21, 1958 in Bolton ) is a British composer.

Life

Holt studied composition with Anthony Gilbert at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester . He became known for the presentation of his works at the Bath International Music Festival in 1985. He wrote numerous chamber music works. Kites was created for the London Sinfonietta in 1983 and Ballad of the Black Sorrow in 1988 . Holt also composed several pieces for the Nash Ensemble . Twice he was commissioned to compose works for the Proms ; In 1987 Syrensong was performed, in 1993 the viola concerto Walking with the River's Roar with the soloist Nobuko Imai .

The piece Lilith was played at the Meltdown Festival in London in 1993 by Ensemble Modern under Markus Stenz and in France by L'Ensemble intercontemporain under the direction of Simon Rattle . Rohan de Saram gave the world premiere of the Daedalus Remembers cello concerto , which is the third part of the Icarus Trilogy , at the 1995 Cheltenham Festival . Holt's first opera The Nightingale's to Blame (based on Federico García Lorca ) was performed at the 1998 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival .

The piece Sunrise 'yellow noise for soprano and orchestra, premiered in 2000 by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Lisa Milne under Simon Rattle , received the Prix ​​de la Fondation Prince Pierre in 2001 . In the same year at the Cheltenham International Festival of Music, Sphinx for cor anglais and percussion, Two movements for string quartet and Clandestiny for soprano and organ could be heard as part of a composer portrait . Sunrise and Two Movements are two parts of the five-piece work cycle The Ribbon of Time .

His opera Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm , premiered in 2003, received the British Composer Award for best stage work in 2004.

Holt teaches composition at Royal Holloway, University of London .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ chesternovello.com