Geoffrey King (composer)

Geoffrey King (born in 1949) is a British composer and teacher.

He has been commissioned and performed by some of the main ensembles and new music promoters, including Aldeburgh Festival, Almeida Festival, Arditti Quartet, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, ECAT, Edinburgh International Festival, London Sinfonietta, Lontano, Musica Nova, Nash Ensemble, Piano Circus, Schönberg Ensemble, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Slagwerkgroep Den Haag and St. Magnus Festival.

Biography

Born in Croydon, England, King studied composition under the Webern disciple, Humphrey Searle, and Alexander Goehr at the Royal College of Music and continued studying under Goehr at the University of Southampton, before receiving an Italian government scholarship to study composition under Ernesto Rubin de Cervin and Giuseppe Sinopoli at the Conservatorio "Benedetto Marcello" in Venice from 1973 to 1974. It was in Venice during the 1970s, where he befriended fellow composition students, Marino Baratello and Claudio Ambrosini - all members of the burgeoning, new Venice movement or "school" for contemporary music. From 1976 until 1987 he was on the staff of St Mary's Music School and in 1979, working in partnership with Diana Milne, Peter Nelson and Michael Tilmouth, ECAT (Edinburgh Contemporary Arts Trust) was established. In 1988 King was appointed composer-in-residence at Huddersfield Polytechnic, and also with the NCOS Symphony Orchestra in London. At the same time he moved to The Netherlands, receiving a Dutch government scholarship to study at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague. In 1995 he moved to Amsterdam where he now lives.

Works

In 1993 the Middelburg Festival and the Hague "Festival In De Branding" included performances of King's large piano piece "Pithecanthropus" which had been commissioned by Leiden University. In December 1998 a large cantata on the subject of American genocide against its native peoples – "The Coming of Wasichu" – was commissioned by ECAT and premiered by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and young performers from schools across Edinburgh. It was written for Amnesty International in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. "Magritte Weather", his biggest ensemble work, received its Belgian and Dutch premieres at this time with the Schönberg Ensemble under the direction of Oliver Knussen. In February 2000 further performances were given by the London Sinfonietta in Paris and London. In May 2001 King conducted his "Concerto Classico (da Domenico Cimarosa)" written for I Virtuosi del'Ensemble di Venezia, in the Pietá, "La Chiesa di Vivaldi" in Venice.

In 2006, Percussion Group The Hague gave the premiere performances (in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam and Den Haag) of King's "Grand Sonata" for six percussion and two pianos. At thirty six minutes, this is his lengthiest ensemble work. "Spanish Moods" for bass clarinet and piano was premiered in Edinburgh. In addition, he has written an organ symphony for Michael Bonaventure's recital in Truro Cathedral and a suite of ten movements for two pianos yet to be premiered.