New music by RCM composers presented in live event by Royal College of Music
Thursday 11 June 2020
The Royal College of Music is hosting a live online event featuring new music by talented RCM composers.
The Composition for Screen Showcase will take place on Wednesday 17 June at 7pm and feature 17 short films with innovative soundtracks by gifted composers at the start of their careers.
The event will feature introductions and insights from the composers themselves. There will be a wide variety of styles and genres on display, with each film in the series lasting 3-6 minutes and showcasing the diverse talents of composers on the RCM’s renowned Composition for Screen course.
Highlights from the Showcase include DIVA by Vasilis Alevizos, which had its TV premiere on Channel 4’s Random Acts. For DIVA, Vasilis won Best Emerging Composer at the LA Fashion Film Festival and Best Composer at the Oslo Independent Film Festival. Gianfranco Pedroli’s ESCAPE won Best Original Score at the Berlin International Film Scoring Competition 2020. Israeli composer Noga Rotem recorded her own voice while in lockdown for her piece Soar, scored for orchestra and choir, while Sharneisha Joyner drew on her experience of composing for dance choreography for her work Got Your Back. The series also includes Niklas Melcher’s A World Unveiled, set to clips from NASA’s archive.
Stephen Johns, Artistic Director of the RCM, comments: ‘The startling array of talent at our annual Composition for Screen Showcase is on display online this year, demonstrating once again the ingenuity, creativity and adaptability of our students. A diverse and inspired range of music accompanies the film clips, revealing the power of music to enhance all our senses.’
Dimitri Scarlato, Area Leader of Composition for Screen, said: ‘During this time of uncertainty it is important to keep the arts alive and to offer every possible opportunity to the new generation of screen composers. This is why we are proud to have our first online showcase exposing the talent of our students, delivering their music to the widest possible audience.’
The Royal College of Music launched its online concert series in March when concert venues across the world suspended live events in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The series showcases the wide variety of music-making at the RCM, with the College delving into its archives to offer a mixture of online premieres and audience favourites. The Composition for Screen Showcase offers audiences a rare opportunity to enjoy a live event and experience new music which harnesses and embraces technology to transcend physical distance.
More information about the RCM’s online concert series is available in the What’s On section of the website. Find out more about the RCM Composition faculty here.
