LCM musicians performing at the Artsfest event. One is playing a viola and the other is playing piano
LCM musicians performing at the Artsfest event. One is playing a viola and the other is playing piano

LCM composition students collaborate with professional performers for ARTSFEST

Intro

Composition students at UWL’s London College of Music (LCM) had the chance to collaborate with professional performers and performance students at a recent two-day Composition Festival curated by Head of Composition Dr Simone Spagnolo and lecturer Dr Litha Efthymiou as part of UWL's ARTSFEST summer showcase.

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LCM musicians performing at the Artsfest event. One is playing piano.

Professional musicians including The Vincente Trio, violinist Timothy Schwarz and pianist Emanuele Mollica took part in workshops with the students and then performed their pieces.

Visiting Professor Timothy Schwarz performed 10 short works by students inspired by The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges, recordings of which are going be released as an album with London Noise Records later this year. He also performed with his partner in the Anglo-American Duo, pianist Jane Beament.

Emanuele Mollica performed a concert of five new pieces inspired by Spain, written by first year BMus Composition students.

The festival also included screenings of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1927 film The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog and Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 film The Kid, alongside music clips by students of composition for film and TV.

Two LCM musicians performing. One is playing a grand piano and the other is playing a saxophone. Both musicians are wearing all black.

Dr Simone Spagnolo said of the event:

Our students are very excited to participate. They love the collaboration with professional players who spend time workshopping the pieces with them before performing them. We have so many students’ pieces to showcase that we’ve started to make these two-day events.”

Three LCM musicians onstage performing. They are playing a piano and two xylophones

To be able to workshop your piece with a performer is so helpful for understanding different techniques and developing new skills. Hearing your composition played live by musicians for the first time completely changes your perspective on it. Studying at UWL has been an amazing experience. I finish my studies soon and I would like to do a PhD,”

said Masters student Sofia Pan.

 

Masters student George Ugbomah commented,

I have loved this festival. The workshops with Timothy have been very hands on, which is the best way to learn. As a composer, most of the time you hear your works through a computer. It is amazing to hear them performed live. My piece for Chaplin’s The Kid was difficult to write, but I loved it. Studying at UWL is the best as there are so many opportunities for hands-on learning and networking.”

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