Adam de la Cour

Adam de la Cour (born June 8, 1979) is a British experimental composer and performer. He studied composition under Rodney Newton, Kit Turnbull [ [http://www.themusicsalon.com Kit Turnbull composer ] ] and Michael Finnissy. De la Cour gained his Ph.D. from University of Southampton in 2006.

Performances

De la Cour's activities as a performer have included vocal performances of the songs of Chris Newman for the British Music Information Centre, various projects with Michael Finnissy, guesting with members of the Ensemble Plus Minus, [ [http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:gQcvZ_LIGyIJ:www.plusminusensemble.com/%3Fp%3Darchive+%22de+la+cour%22+plus+minus&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=uk&client=firefox-a] Ensemble Plus Minus] Anna Best, [ [http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:F-0i2RclBmYJ:www.annabest.info/thestickysilvertrack/+%22de+la+cour%22+barbican+anna+best&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=uk&client=firefox-a] ] and in two short clown skit pieces at Southbank Centre for Rational Rec. [ [http://www.rationalrec.org.uk/ rationalrec.org.uk ] ]

elected works

*"Three Boxes and a Cube" (2004-2007) comprising "Box 1: The Amputee" (2004), "Box 2: The Foetus on the Sofa" (2007), "Box 3: The Mirror Dwarf" (2006) and "Cube" (2007). Collapsible steel frame notated scores.
*"The Real Imaginary Framed Existence of Ringhead and Loon" (2005). Large comic book score, first performed and recorded by de la Cour, Michael Finnissy and Alan Witts.
*"Clown, a circus" (2006), scored circus show using Cut-up techniques influenced by William S. Burroughs. Utilizes midget piano-stool pushers, surreal violence, 'throat percussionists' and quotations from the Marquis de Sade.
*"H: Tokyo Dwift" (2006) for solo piano. Japanese Hentai, commissioned and first performed by Michael Finnissy.
*"Nursery Rhyme piano miniatures" (2006), first performed by Mark Knoop.
*"Tic" (2007), solo for cello vocal. Written for Laura Moody. First performed at the Jack Lyons concert hall, York.

De la Cour has exhibited work at Southampton's Artvaults and the Centre for Recent Drawing (C4RD).

Benny the Clown

De la Cour appears in many of his public performances – particularly with Zipperface – as his alter ego Benny the Clown.

Benny is a traditionally made up clown, with oversize shoes, gaudily coloured baggy trousers and an enormous red fright-wig. Benny has his own unique facial make-up. He is often heard to speak in a broad Brooklyn accent, which can be heard in his early "...play this with your eyes closed" videos. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO5nHWqww_k YouTube - "...play this with your eyes closed" with Benny the clown ] ]

In November 2007, Benny appeared with his new sidekick Percy the Ringmaster at the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall to perform a specially choreographed 8 minute skit to music composed by de la Cour himself.

Benny and Percy have since appeared at the launches of the Spitalfields Festival (December 2008, Spitalfields Market, London - with pianist Mark Knoop) and Brighton's Soundwaves Festival (Brighton Station main concourse, June 2009 - with a band featuring Alan Bates on Double Bass and Mr Pump on Keyboard).

Additional information

De la Cour was a featured artist in Richard Cork's article "The Stubborn Art" in the "Financial Times"' "Drawing" supplement, and was interviewed in the online magazine "CrushtoPulp".

References

External links

* [http://www.adamdelacour.com/default.aspx.html Official Website]