Louis Amdriessen, Aphex Twin, Richard Barrett, Luciano Berio, Harrison Birtwistle, Boards of Canada, John Cage, Cilit Bang!, Chick Corea, Morton Feldman, Brian Ferneyhough, Four Tet, Anthony Gilbert, Gerard Grisey, Bryn Harrison, Simon Holt, György Ligeti, Oliver Messiaen, Mira Calix, Modest Mussorgsky, Radiohead, James Saunders, Jean Sibelius, Howard Skempton, Michael Tippett, Iannis Xenakis, Yes, Frank Zappa (and probably loads more...)
Commissioned in 2008 by the RNCM New Ensemble to commemorate the retirement of Edward Gregson as principal of the institution. Excerpt contains a complete recording. Scored for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, violoncello and piano.
Performer(s): RNCM New Ensemble; Clark Rundell (cond.)
three visions in a grove of trees (2009)
Commissioned in 2009 by ensemble 10/10. Excerpt contains movement five (of seven). Scored for mixed ensemble of twelve players.
Performer(s): ensemble 10/10; Clark Rundell (cond.)
hard-boiled wonderland and the end of the world (percussion concerto) (2007)
Commissioned in 2007 by the RNCM Chamber Orchestra for percussion soloist Toby Kearney. Excerpt contains movement one (of four). Scored for chamber orchestra with percussion soloist.
Performer(s): RNCM Chamber Orchestra; Clark Rundell (cond.); Toby Kearney (perc.)
convenient approximations (2006; rev. 2008)
Excerpt contains a portion of movement one (of six). Scored for solo viola.
Performer(s): Katrina Brown (vla.)
this was not a film about a drowning man (2008)
Commissioned in 2008 by the house of bedlam. Excerpt contains a portion of movement three (of three). Scored for soprano saxophone, electric guitar, percussion, violoncello and electronics.
Performer(s): the house of bedlam
ABOUT THE PERSON WHO WROTE IT:
Matthew Sergeant was born in 1984 in Newport, South Wales and spent his formative years living on the South-coast, near Portsmouth. Matthew graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music in 2006 with a first-class honors degree in composition, completing his Master of Philosophy course at the same institution in 2007, having studied with David Horne.
Matthew's postgraduate studies were supported by scholarships from the RVW Trust, The Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the RNCM's own J. Bretley Scholarship. His graduation portfolio won the 2007 Soroptimist International of Manchester Award for Composers (as did his undergraduate portfolio in 2006) and earned him a Silver Medal from London's Worshipful Company of Musicians.
Matthew's music is performed widely and has been commissioned and/or performed-by many leading performers and ensembles, including the house of bedlam, Chamber Domaine, the BBC Singers, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) and the RNCM orchestras and ensembles. His music also has been programmed as part of major UK festivals and concert-series, such as the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and The Cutting Edge Series 2008 (at the BMIC Warehouse in London). Matthew is currently the 2008-09 'Young Composer in Residence' with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and is an SPNM Shortlisted Composer.
The remaining 2008/09 season includes premieres given by ensemble 10:10, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, alongside several broadcasts on BBC Radio 3.
Dedicated to education work, Matthew is very active as a composition tutor and workshop-leader. He teaches composition and contemporary performance practice the the RNCM (and its Junior Department) and co-leads the RNCM's 'Sound Ideas' series of education projects. He is a tutor in composition at the Yorkshire Young Musicians centre in Leeds, and at Xaverian Sixth Form College in Manchester, all while teaching composition and music-theory privately at his home in Didsbury.
Dear Matthew: Thanks for your cyber-friendship. Splendid orchestration & idiomatic gestures in the percussion concerto movement. Thanks for putting up the video clips of the viola piece - very engaging. Hope to hear postings of your upcoming projects. Congratulations & good luck with your promising career -gil.
Just thought some of you might be interested in this:
This is the first movement of 'convenient approximations' played by Matthew Jones (viola) at Gresham College as part of the concert given by chamber domaine on the 15th April entitled 'The Avant Garde'. The remaining movment(s) should be posted below:
