Paul Stanhope is considered one of the most interesting, prolific and outstanding composers of his generation – not only in Australia but internationally – a reputation confirmed by the prestigious Toru Takemitsu Composition Prize (2004) for Fantasia on a Theme by Vaughan Williams.
His work has been performed in the UK, Europe, Japan and the US, with additional international exposure for his music in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony. His compositions cross a range of genres and display recurrent interests in the music and culture of indigenous Australia as well as references to earlier periods of western music.
Paul’s music has been described as featuring “excellent craftsmanship”, having a “certain quiet radicalism” and a “generous, encompassing aesthetic.” Four of his compositions will be showcased in Musica Viva’s International Concert Season 2010, three of which have been commissioned for Musica Viva.
“It is a great honour and a wonderful opportunity to be Musica Viva’s Featured Composer” says Paul. “For me, these commissions are a means to write for some of the most outstanding performers in the world who then give the music voice – what could be better?” “Chamber music is an intimate and personal medium. I hope, therefore, to put something of myself into these works but also to tap into the grand tradition of chamber music-making.”
The Pavel Haas Quartet will perform the world premiere performances of String Quartet no 2 (2009), commissioned for Musica Viva by Kim Williams AM.
Deserts of Exiles (2007), which reflects upon the experience of displacement and banishment and juxtaposes texts from the Lamentations of Jeremiah and a contemporary Arab poet, will be performed by The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge.
Alina Ibragimova & Cédric Tiberghien will give the world premiere performance of a duo work (2010) commissioned for Musica Viva by Geoff & Vicki Ainsworth and Carl Vine.
The Piano Trio Dolcissimo Uscignolo (2007) will be performed by the Atos Trio. This work, commissioned for Musica Viva by Geoff & Vicki Ainsworth, explores the notion of song within the context of an instrumental work through the conduit of a madrigal.