A much commissioned and frequently performed composer, a highly creative teacher and an original programmer, John Woolrich is an important figure in British musical life. His successful collaborations with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group led to his appointment in the 2002-03 season as their Artistic Associate, and from 2004 he has been the Associate Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival. In 1991 he founded the Composers Ensemble, of which he continues to be the driving force.
A number of preoccupations thread through his varied output: the art of creative transcription (Ulysses Awakes, for instance, is a recomposition of a Monteverdi aria, and The Theatre Represents a
Garden: Night – a work for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – is based on fragments of Mozart), a fascination with machinery and mechanical processes (heard in many pieces including The Ghost in the Machine and The Barber’s Timepiece), a love of song and a passionate interest in literature.
Forthcoming performances:
A Farewell
12.6.10, Aldeburgh Church, Aldeburgh Festival, UK: Hebrides Ensemble
Whitel's Ey
12.6.10, Old Fruitmarket, City Halls, Glasgow, UK: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Garry Walker
Sestina
14.6.10, Aldeburgh Church, Aldeburgh Festival, UK: Hebrides Ensemble
Spring in Winter
20.6.10, Aldeburgh Festival, Orford Church, Suffolk, UK: Britten-Pears Chamber Choir
Pianobook I
26.6.10, Aldeburgh Festival, The Pumphouse, Aldeburgh, UK: Marija Grikeviciute (piano) x
Come and Go
*.6.10, tbc, UK: Northern Sinfonia/Alan Fearon
Ulysses Awakes
7.7.10, Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham, UK: Brett Dean/Festival Academy Strings/Neil Thomson
Ulysses Awakes
7.7.10, Trinity College of Music, London, UK: Victoria Rawlins
Ulysses Awakes
16.7.10, Latitude Festival, Southwold, UK: Robert Ames (viola)/London Contemporary Orchestra/Hugh Brunt
Three Fantasias for six viols
27.7.10, Dartington Summer School, UK: Rose Consort
Three Songs for alto and six viols
27.7.10, Dartington Summer School, UK: Clare Wilkinson/Rose Consort
In the stones
29.7.10, Dartington Summer School, UK: Barbirolli Quartet
Ulysses Awakes
4.8.10, St Patrick's Catholic Church, Sutherland, Australia: Angela Lindsay/Lurline Chamber Orchestra
Ulysses Awakes
5.8.10, St Matthew's Anglican Church, Windsor, Australia: Angela Lindsay/Lurline Chamber Orchestra
Ulysses Awakes
7.8.10, Randwick Town Hall, Australia: Angela Lindsay/Lurline Chamber Orchestra
Ulysses Awakes
8.8.10, Sydney, Turramurra Uniting Church, Australia: Angela Lindsay/Lurline Chamber Orchestra
Pianobook III & IV
24.8.10, Dartington Summer School, UK: Rolf Hind
And Winter comes
29.8.10, Tardebrigge, UK: Simon Lepper/Anna Stéphany
The Kingdom of Dreams
16.9.10, Leicester Festival, UK: Nicholas Daniel
A Singing Sky/The Night will not draw on/Oboe Quintet 17.9.10, Leicester Festival, UK: Nicholas Daniel
The Theatre Represents a Garden: Night
18.9.10, Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire, UK: Orchestra of St John's/John Lubbock
Three Capriccios for oboe
19.9.10, Leicester Cathedral, UK: Nicholas Daniel
Capriccio
15.10.10, Snape Maltings, Snape, UK: Markus Däunert/Aldeburgh Strings