Composer

Biography

Alex Taylor is an emerging young composer with a distinctive compositional voice and already a strong track record of success. His music has been performed by numerous artists, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, the Auckland Youth Orchestra, the Karlheinz Company, SMP Ensemble, the Intrepid Music Project, Ben Hoadley and Anna McGregor. He has just completed a Masters in Composition under the supervision of Dr Eve de Castro-Robinson and Associate Professor John Elmsly at Auckland University.

Alex’s works have been featured in concerts in New Zealand, Australia, France, Indonesia, Slovenia, Italy and Germany. [f]at[on]ality for solo piano was performed at the 2010 Yogyakarta Contemporary Music Festival in Indonesia. A residency with the Auckland Youth Orchestra in 2011 resulted in eight European performances of between for orchestra, a tribute to the music of the late New Zealand maverick composer Anthony Watson. The orchestra’s European tour culminated in a performance at the Berlin Konzerthaus as part of the prestigious Young Euro Classic Festival. between was written with funding from the SOUNZ Community Commission.

In 2011 Alex was awarded the NZSO-Todd Young Composer Award, as well as the Orchestra’s Choice Award, for his work [inner] for viola and orchestra. He has won numerous prizes and scholarships through Auckland University, including winning the 2009 Lilburn Trust Competition. As well as the 2012 NZSO-National Youth Orchestra residency, current projects include new works for the NZTrio (burlesques mécaniques, to be premiered October 28 at Auckland’s Q Theatre), 175 East and The Committee.

As well as being a composer, Alex curates the Intrepid Music Project, a series of contemporary arts events focusing on new music and poetry. He plays a variety of instruments, including violin, saxophone and piano, sings, conducts, and performs regularly with groups including the DSCH string quartet and Auckland Youth Orchestra. He is a regular contributor to the LOUNGE poetry readings and his poems have been published in Potroast, minarets and JAAM.