Simon Gray (composer)
- For other persons named Simon Gray, see Simon Gray (disambiguation).
Simon James Gray is a music composer and journalist born January 26, 1970 in Kirkby near Liverpool, UK, and currently living in Birmingham, UK.
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Simon Gray studied at Birmingham Conservatoire, initially under Andrew Downes and then principally under John Mayer. Under the influence of the latter, he developed a keen interest in all forms of MusicAL fusions, working as the Musical Director of the Conservatoire's Indo Jazz Fusions ensemble for a time and coaching the Folk music ensemble there. He also served as the Director of the Conservatoire's community music programme sponsored by the Post Office, and with Victoria Moon was the joint Artistic Director of the Music Extra Festival for four years. Whilst teaching at the Conservatoire, he completed one commission from Dudley Education Authority for a cantata based on the Legend of Saint Kenelm, scored for children's orchestra, choir, guitars, recorders, handbells, and narrator. He graduated as a Graduate of the Birmingham Schools of Music (GBSM) in 1992, and a Master of Arts in Ethnomusicology in 1997.
His earlier acoustic works were purely Indian / Western classical music fusions, but as a result of further study he incorporated elements of Arabic, European folk music, jazz, and Iranian classical music into his sound mix, as well as modern dance and electronic music forms.
After largely abandoning the medium of acoustic music he turned to purely electronic and electroacoustic music techniques including various experiments in mashup, with his first work in the genre, Liquid Counterpoint, combining his own original studio recording of Steve Reich's Vermont Counterpoint (for the flute player Julie Warburton) with John Dresher's Liquid and Stellar Music, first broadcast on BBC Radio 3's Mixing It programme on February 2 2003.
He is also the editor of the Birmingham Alive! online events guide.
Acoustic works
- The Golden Temple (1991), trumpet and piano
- Pastiche? (1991), flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon
- Planet (1992), solo bassoon
- F.D.U. (1992), saxophone quartet
- Tigris (1992), jazz/rock ensemble
- The Legend of St Kenelm (1992), school orchestra and choir
- Four Dynamics (1996), percussion ensemble
Electronic / electroacoustic works
- Secrets of Phobos (1995)
- The Nexus (1996)
- The Spooky Beach and the Scary Octopus (1997)
- Liquid Counterpoint (2002)
- The Singing Cavern (2004)
- Hiroshima (2006)
External links
References
- http://www.star-one.org.uk/aboutsimon.asp (with permission)