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Gwyn Pritchard was born in Yorkshire in 1948. He started composing at the age of
twelve, and in 1966 entered the Royal Scottish Academy of Music where he studied
the 'cello and composition. During his student years he wrote a Viola
Concerto, and other works which still receive regular performances, most
notably
Music for Doublebass & Harp. After a short period as Director of
Music at Salisbury Cathedral School he worked as a freelance 'cellist in London.
He was then employed by the BBC, firstly as an orchestral 'cellist, and later to
be the subject of a documentary film Young Composer for which he was
also commissioned to write
Spring Music.
For
a brief period he divided his time between composing and working as a
‘cellist, but
in the late 1970s, after
performances of Objects In Space and Mercurius
at London's South Bank brought his
work to the attention of a wider public, he decided to commit himself exclusively
to composition and conducting. At
the same time Nephalauxis was
performed at the Warsaw Autumn Festival - the beginning of a fruitful musical
relationship with many Polish musicians that was to develop over the following
years, culminating in his being
Featured Composer alongside Lutoslawski at the International New Music Week held
in Southampton at which several of his works were performed, including the première
of the major orchestral piece La
Settima Bolgia.
Pritchard's music is
now performed around the world, and has been represented at major international
festivals, in many European countries, in the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia,
New Zealand, and of course throughout Britain. It has also been widely
broadcast, often under his own direction, on many radio and television networks.
In 1982 he founded
Uroboros Ensemble which includes some of Britain's leading instrumentalists. He
has composed several pieces for the group, including Moondance, Lollay-Lollay, Chamber Concerto, Madrigal
and most recently Features and Formations. As their conductor he has
performed and broadcast with them throughout Britain and abroad, and as their
Artistic Director has commissioned several new works, and introduced much
unfamiliar music from other countries to British and other audiences in Europe.
Over the last decade
Pritchard has developed an ongoing association with leading instrumentalists
based in Basle, Switzerland for whom he has composed a number of substantial
pieces: Janus, Wayang, Break Apart,
Demise (which involved him for the first time in electronics), and
culminating in the 'cello concerto The Fruit of Chance and Necessity which
was performed in Basle at the 2004 ISCM World New Music Days. His lighthearted
theatrical birthday tribute to the Basel Percussion Trio Das
Mysterium der Heiligen Dreifatligket was incorporated into La Revue
Burlesque by the famous Teatro Dimitri which toured in numerous countries in the
late 1990s. He has also conducted the Basle Soloists touring Britain and Canada.
In 2003 Pritchard
founded the Reggello
International Festival of Contemporary & Classical Music in Tuscany,
Italy. As the current Artistic Director he invites ensembles and soloists from
many parts of the world to participate, often programming music which is seldom
heard in Italy. He also directs the RIF Composers' Competition
which is hosted by the festival. For more details see http://www.reggellofestival.org.
As a teacher and
lecturer Pritchard has been invited to many academic institutions, including The
Royal Academy of Music, The Basle Conservatoire, The Eastman School of Music and
several universities in Britain and American. He has also taught composition
extensively, both to private students and in workshops in Britain and abroad. He
has written, introduced and participated in programmes for BBC Radio 3, and has
contributed articles and reviews to a variety of musical publications.
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