Jump to content

Daniel Fardon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Daniel Fardon (born 1991) is a British composer of contemporary classical music.

Biography

[edit]

Fardon studied Music at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where his teachers included Howard Skempton and Errollyn Wallen. He went on to study for an MPhil in Composition at the University of Cambridge, where he was tutored by Professor Richard Causton. In 2018, he graduated with a PhD in Composition on the topic of tonality[1] from the University of Birmingham, under the supervision of Professor Michael Zev Gordon. He was the Rosie Johnson Apprentice Composer at the Wigmore Hall during 2018-19.[2][3] In 2018 he won the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize,[4] and in 2020 he received an Ivor Novello Award for his music.[5][6] He teaches at the Purcell School for Young Musicians.

Music

[edit]

Fardon’s early commissions included Three Short Pieces for the Stratford-on-Avon music festival[7] in 2012, and a piano work for Flatpack Film Festival in 2013. His piece Freundschaftsbeziehungen was commissioned by the King's Lynn Festival in 2015.[8] His work Black Eyes for soprano and tenor voice, which explores the theme of alien abduction as a coping mechanism for psychological trauma, toured the UK in 2015.[9][10] In 2016, Fardon’s work Flux was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra as part of the Panufnik Composers Scheme,[11][12] conducted by François-Xavier Roth. Fardon’s October Tune was premièred by members of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 2017,[13] and subsequently performed by members of the London Symphony Orchestra.[14]

Fardon won the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize in 2018[4] and was commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society to write a new string quartet.[15] The resulting piece, Six Movements, was premièred by the Bloomsbury Quartet at the Wigmore Hall.[16][17] June Tune, for piano quartet, was performed by members of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2020.[18] His work Elements of Disco was commissioned by Cheltenham Music Festival in 2020[19] and premièred live on BBC Radio 3 by the Carducci Quartet,[20][21] broadcast from St David's Hall in Cardiff in the absence of an audience as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fardon was commissioned by Coventry City of Culture 2021 and the Arts Council England to write a two-hour theatrical symphony for the Orchestra of the Swan,[22][23] which formed part of a large-scale year-long project involving people from the Coventry community. The resulting work, Symphony of Us,[24][25][26] was performed three times in Coventry Cathedral in 2022, conducted by Fardon, and was featured on BBC Midlands Today and BBC Radio CWR.[27]

Fardon's August Tune: Running Music was performed by the Purcell Symphony Orchestra in 2023 at St John's Smith Square,[28] conducted by Paul Mann, and subsequently at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.[29] 2023 also saw performances of his Six Movements live on BBC Radio 3[30] as well as at the Wigmore Hall.[31][32]

Fardon was the recipient of an Ivor Novello Award in 2020 for his string quartet Six Movements.[5]

Fardon’s music is notable for its exploration of aesthetic pluralism.[1][33][34]

Notable works

[edit]
  • Black Eyes, for soprano and tenor voice (2015)
  • Flux, for symphony orchestra (2016)
  • October Tune, for sextet (2017)
  • Three Movements, for chamber ensemble (2018)
  • Piano Suite No. 3 (2018)
  • Somewhere Among the Clouds Above, for soprano and alto saxophone (2018)
  • June Tune, for piano quartet (2019)
  • Six Movements, for string quartet (2019)
  • Elements of Disco, for string quartet (2020)
  • Symphony of Us, for chamber orchestra and narrators (2022)
  • August Tune: Running Music, for symphony orchestra (2023)

[35]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Fardon, Daniel Lewis (2019). Composing with Plural Approaches to Tonality, Source, and Style. University of Birmingham.
  2. ^ "Daniel Fardon appointed Apprentice Composer". Royal Philharmonic Society. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  3. ^ Whyte, Sam. "Rosie Johnson RPS Wigmore Hall Apprentice Composer 2018/19 | News | About Us". Wigmore Hall. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  4. ^ a b "RPS announces prizes and grants for composers and musicians totaling £42,000". Royal Philharmonic Society. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  5. ^ a b "The Ivors Composer Awards | The Ivors Academy |". The Ivors Academy. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Ivor Novello award winners announced at The Ivors Composer Awards 2020". www.prsformusic.com. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Birmingham Conservatoire develops close partnership with music festival". Birmingham City University. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Previous Events | King's Lynn Festival - mix of classical, choral, recital and cross-over events, music, theatre, art and exhibitions". www.kingslynnfestival.org.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  9. ^ "In The Sky I Am Walking, Greengrassi Gallery". theartsdesk.com. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  10. ^ Kincaid, Heather (26 October 2015). "Feature: Cambridge's Festival of Ideas". A Younger Theatre. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  11. ^ "London Symphony Orchestra - Panufnik Composers Scheme". lso.co.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  12. ^ "London Symphony Orchestra - The LSO Panufnik Composers Scheme: Where are they now? Part 2". lso.co.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Works for BSO Composers' Day 2017 revealed". Rhinegold. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  14. ^ "London Symphony Orchestra - LSO Soundhub Associates Concert". lso.co.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Daniel Fardon". Royal Philharmonic Society. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  16. ^ "Early Evening Recital at Wigmore Hall". Bloomsbury Quartet. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  17. ^ "Maconchy, Fardon and Schulhoff". Wigmore Hall. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Soundhub Showcase: Phase II | Barbican". www.barbican.org.uk. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  19. ^ "BBC Radio 3 celebrates artists from Cheltenham Music Festival 2020". Cheltenham Festivals. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  20. ^ "Beethoven, Fardon and Dvorak". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  21. ^ "Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  22. ^ Rabinowitz, Chloe. "Cast Announced for SYMPHONY OF US". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  23. ^ "Symphony of Us". Orchestra Of The Swan. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  24. ^ Matthews-Parris, Ollinton. "Symphony of Us - Coventry UK City of Culture 2021". coventry2021.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  25. ^ "Symphony of Us – New show at Cathedral tells real-life stories of six Coventrians". Coventry Observer. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  26. ^ Thackeray, Dave (14 January 2022). "Symphony of Us puts the city stories of six local people in the spotlight". CoventryLive. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  27. ^ "BBC CWR - Coventry: UK City of Culture, An ordinary housewife tells her story of Cov". BBC. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  28. ^ "The Purcell Symphony Orchestra | St John's Smith Square". www.sjss.org.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  29. ^ "Purcell School Symphony Orchestra". Birmingham City University. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  30. ^ "BBC Radio 3 - In Tune, The Bloomsbury Quartet, Claire Martin and Scott Dunn". BBC. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  31. ^ "Imagine Series: Bloomsbury Quartet". www.wigmore-hall.org.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  32. ^ "Daniel Fardon". www.wigmore-hall.org.uk. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  33. ^ "The Ivors Composer Awards 2020 winners announced". The Ivors Academy. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  34. ^ "Bloomsbury Mornings". Royal Philharmonic Society. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  35. ^ "LIST OF WORKS". danielfardon. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
[edit]