William MIVAL
Qualifications: MMus
William Mival is Head of Composition at the Royal College of Music in London. A student of Anthony Milner, Robert Saxton and, in Cologne, of York Höller, he joined the staff of the RCM in 1989 lecturing in music history and orchestration. He has been active as a broadcaster, working extensively for BBC Radio Three and Four and latterly on BBC Four television. He has also worked to develop musical technologies and is the author of an innovative orchestration software package that allows for musical interaction with real orchestral textures and sonorities. In 1996 his orchestral piece On the Ringstreet was commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra as part of their Land Rover-sponsored Sound Discovery programme and was first performed by the orchestra under the conductor Pascal Rophé. Other recent commissions have included a work for the harpsichordist and virginalist Sophie Yates, The Siege of Chester, which was featured on Radio Three’s The Music Machine. This piece was written specially for mean-tone tuned virginals and has received performances in Berlin and Lisbon as well as in London. The Belcea Quartet gave the first performances of his Quartet RBG at the Sydney Festival and the Wigmore Hall in January 2002. In February 2003, the BBCSO under Donald Runnicles gave the first performance of Tristan-still at the Barbican Hall. wmival@rcm.ac.uk composition@rcm.ac.uk