Daniel Bickerton and Timothy Johnston working on Music for Youth production
A Cardiff University composer will be performing at the finale of this year’s Music for Youth PROMS featuring young musicians from South Wales at the Royal Albert Hall this month
Dr Bickerton, Director of Undergraduate Studies at the School of Music is combining his passion for music with his love of composing to write a piece for the grand finale of the music for youth. Commissioned by Music for Youth in collaboration with Gwent Music, Daniel successfully won the bid for his final night performance. He explained that the pitch for Music for Youth was extremely tough, highly competitive, with ideas coming from all over the UK, but he was lucky to get this opportunity.
A spokesperson at Music for Youth said they love the idea that this performance will incorporate a plethora of influences, ranging from classical, contemporary, jazz, rap and beatboxing all in one piece.
The performance will be the culmination of a six-month project involving 650 students from South Wales, including a special research placement collaboration from one of Cardiff University’s music students, Timothy Johnston. He was awarded full funding for a CUROP placement this summer to work with Daniel on the electronics, orchestration and score production of the event.
Gwent music rehearsals in preparation for the grand finale of Music for Youth
Timothy is taking the opportunity to help young musicians in South Wales start thinking about the use of technology in music. He has cleverly taken sounds from the Facebook messenger notification to the Windows shut down sound and blended them together into a patchwork of effects that are woven in to music. He explained that, “Nothing can replace the practical experience gained from working first hand on a project like this.”
With final rehearsals finished, Timothy and Daniel are excited for their work to come to light at the grand finale of the Music for Youth on 16 November. Daniel added, “The children’s enthusiasm is infectious and I predict an outstanding finale performance as the children have worked so hard.”
Well here’s a tiny snip of out epic @musicforyouth Massed rehearsal #connect @Dan_Bickerton #excited #musiced #mfyproms pic.twitter.com/Y3RGWf0fWY — Gwent Music (@gwentmusic) November 10, 2016
