Graham Fitkin Composer
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GRAHAM FITKIN COMPOSER Graham Fitkin lives and works as a composer in Cornwall. He works with dance, film and digital media alongside concert orchestral and chamber music. He runs his own ensemble of 9 soloists which tours new material each year. Between 1994 and 1996 Graham was resident composer with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra producing five new works. Since then commissions have come from the Halle, BBC Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, RSNO, BBC Orchestra of Wales, Athens Camerata, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Nederlands Radio Orchestra etc. He has conducted orchestras in venues from Lincoln Center to South Bank to Aula Magna. Graham has collaborated with many of today’s foremost performers of new music including Powerplant, Nederlands Blazersensemble, Yo-Yo Ma, Kathryn Stott, Will Gregory, Smith Quartet, Piano Circus, Ensemble Bash and London Sinfonietta. A ‘Composer Award’ in 1990 led to a new work for David Massingham Dance. Ever since then Graham has worked frequently with choreographers with recent performances being given by Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, Wayne McGregor’s Random Dance, Pacific Northwest Ballet, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Bi-Ma, Sidonie Rochon, Munich Ballet and National Ballet of Portugal. He won the International Grand Prix Music for Dance Award in 2000 and has since won two British Composer awards. Over the past 15 years Graham has directed educational and community projects including 3 UK PRS Composer residencies, 9 regional community projects, university seminars, masterclasses and directed workshops in UK, Japan, Italy and Soweto. Recent works include CIRCUIT, a double concerto for two pianos and orchestra for soloists Kathryn Stott and Noriko Ogawa, PAWN for the Duke Quartet, LENS for Janine Jansen at the Concertgebouw in Holland and TWENTY SIX DAYS for 10:10 at HCMF. Since 2007 he has been Composer in Residence with London Chamber Orchestra. His work KAPLAN, for Ruth Wall and himself, focused on the central yet non-existent character from Hitchcock’s film North By Northwest. A new 60 minute film accompanied this intercut with live video of the performers. Graham’s work has been released on CD by Decca’s Argo label, Factory Classical, Sanctuary’s Black Box, Sony, EMI and his own label. Circuit has just been released with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra on BIS record label. 2011 highlights included a new Cello Concerto for Yo-Yo Ma at the Proms, a Midi-Harp Concerto for Sioned Williams and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the premiere of a new production for the Royal Ballet. His ensemble toured the UK in 2011. 2012 sees a new commission for the London Olympics for his own band and the LCO, a new opera for the Royal Opera House in collaboration with Jasmin Vardimon and new work for Ockham’s Razor aerial theatre company..