music.wikisort.org - Composer

Kate Whitley (born 1989) is an English composer and pianist.

Career

She is classically trained and studied music at King's College, Cambridge.[1] Her music is recorded by NMC Recordings and her debut release, I am, I say was released in 2017.[2] It was described as "unpretentious and appealingly vigorous music"[3] and "an excellent introduction to her sonic world".[4] She won a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Special Award in 2014. Her music has been broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and performed as part of the BBC Proms.[5]

In 2017, Whitley was commissioned by Radio 3 to compose a piece for International Women's Day, setting the words of Malala Yousafzai's 2013 speech to the UN.[6] The piece, called Speak Out, was premiered on 8 March 2017 in the Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff, with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Chorus of Wales alongside the children's choir Cor y Cwm, conducted by Xian Zhang.[6]

Multi-Story Orchestra

Whitley co-founded the Multi-Story Orchestra with conductor Christopher Stark in 2011.[7] The orchestra's first performance was of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring in a car park in Peckham, London. The project won the 2016 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award for Audiences and Engagement.[1] The orchestra also works with school children and local community groups.[8]

List of works

Solo/chamber works

• Duo for violin and viola
• 3 pieces for violin and piano
• Five piano pieces
• Two songs for clarinet and piano
• Lines for string quartet

Orchestral

• Autumn Songs for 12 solo strings (7 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, bass)
• Viola Concerto
• Split for solo clarinet, solo percussion and strings
• The Animals
• Sky Dances

Choral

• I am I say (words by Sabrina Mahfouz) for soprano, bass, children's choir orchestra
• Speak Out (words by Malala Yousafzai, written in support of the campaign for girls’ right to education) for children's choir, SATB chorus and orchestra
• Alive (words by Holly McNish) for children's choir and orchestra
• The Cruel Cut (words by Sabrina Mahfouz, written in support of the campaign to stop FGM in the UK) for 4 sopranos, community choir including solo untrained voice, piano

Opera

• Paws and Padlocks (children's opera, libretto by Sabrina Mahfouz)
• Unknown Position (libretto by Emma Hogan)

References

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