Jonathan Little
Professional
Biography
DR. JONATHAN LITTLE B.Mus.(Hons.), Th.A, Ph.D.
“Music characterised by beauty, intensity, richness of material and accessibility.”
“Little's music sounds like no-one else's. Not anyone's. ... This is an aural experience.” - Fanfare magazine, vol.31, no.5 (May/June 2008) [USA]
British-Australian composer/conductor Jonathan Little has a growing number of contracts with both music and book publishing houses, as well as independent record companies. His catalogue of vocal and instrumental works is contracted for publication to Australia’s leading independent classical music publisher, Wirripang. Several of his works are now also commercially available on CD, performed by major artists, and are increasingly being used for film synchronisation purposes. In the period 2004-07, the US-headquartered French contemporary music label ERM (Editions de la Rue Margot) undertook to record a selection of his compositions within their 12-CD “Masterworks” series, performed by the Czech and Kiev Philharmonic Orchestras, with vocal soloists of the Sofia National Opera (Vols. 3, 5, 8, 10 & 11). Other important musical premières include Jonathan’s 21-part Kyrie given at the historic Tallis 500th Anniversary Concerts in 2005, and subsequently featured in Thierry Donard's 2007 DVD film, "Nuit de la Glisse". Recordings have been supported by the Kenneth Leighton Trust (UK) and the Foundation for New Music (USA), and Jonathan’s compositions have recently been honoured with ASCAPlus Awards for Concert Music (2006/07; 2007/08). In 2007, the first compilation album of his music was released on Dilute Recordings to critical praise and airplay throughout the U.S. and Australia. Cambridge University Press’s Tempo magazine (January 2008) described it as a “ground-breaking tour de force … incandescent”, while, in America, Fanfare magazine (May-June 2008) admired its “music of tremendous power … [and] astonishing range of colors and moods”.
Born in 1965, Jonathan trained as a chorister with the National Boys’ Choir of Australia, and later went on to study Composition and Performance at the University of Melbourne – winning the Lady Turner Exhibition for overall excellence. He is a former member of the Australian Youth Orchestra, and has performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and for new music concerts of the Australian Opera Company. Before moving to the UK in 1995, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in music for his research into the development of "exotic" 19th- and 20th-century orchestration.
From 1999-2001, Jonathan was Senior Lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University on their innovative Music Industry Management course (the first such degree course in Europe) – where he specialised in the workings of the British and international recording industry, and taught songwriting analysis. During the same period, he acted as External Examiner in Music Composition for Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR), and has also examined for the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO).
From 2001-2006, Jonathan was Principal of the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, England – Europe’s largest specialist academy for students of contemporary music, and the first music education establishment to win the Queen's Award for Enterprise (Innovation category). During his tenure at ACM, he helped build a world-class music institution, unprecedented in terms of its integrated music industry links, and he also helped to establish Italy's first contemporary music degree course in Bologna. In 2005, Jonathan was appointed Consultant Editor to A&C Black’s flagship volume of musical reference, the Musicians’ and Songwriters’ Yearbook (with Foreword by John Kennedy, Chairman of IFPI) - an Amazon Performing Arts Bestseller - and he has contributed articles on the future of music to the Hudson Institute's American Outlook magazine, and the British Academy’s Heart & Soul: Revealing the Craft of Songwriting (published to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Ivor Novello Awards). He is listed in the Music Publishers' Association Register of Expert Musicologists.
Jonathan is currently Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Chichester, and Visiting Lecturer in Music Composition at the University of Surrey.
Artists who have performed or recorded the works of Jonathan Little include: Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra; Soloists of the Sofia National Opera; Chicago Chamber Choir; Bath Camerata; Tallis Chamber Choir.
Jonathan Little's Performing Rights are assigned to ASCAP (for clearance see: www.ascap.com – “ACE Title Search” – “Search the Database” – Writers / Find “Jonathan Little”) (Vocal, choral, chamber and orchestral repertoire).
CD Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/B0018O3MMA/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music
DISCOGRAPHY link: http://www.classicsonline.com/composerbio/52177.htm
PUBLISHERS
Publications by Wirripang
18/106 Corrimal Street
Wollongong
NSW 2500
Australia
Phone: +61 (0)2 4228 9388
Email: keats@wirripang.com.au
Website: www.australiancomposers.com.au
RECORD LABELS
ERM Media
(Editions de la Rue Margot)
101 W. Plume Street – Suite 404
Norfolk, VA 23510
USA
Phone: +001 (757) 625-1212
E-mail: ermmedia@ermmedia.org
Website: www.ermmedia.org/CD_Series.html
Dilute Recordings
The Lodge, St Martha's Priory
Halfpenny Lane
Guildford
Surrey GU4 8PZ
UK
E-mail: info@diluterecordings.com
Website: www.diluterecordings.com
| Important Works |
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Performances |
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- For Full Works List, see: www.ascap.com
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- Kyrie, Op.5 - Tallis Chamber Choir/Philip Simms (Waltham Abbey)
- Kyrie, Op.5 - Tallis Chamber Choir/Philip Simms (St. Alfege, Greenwich)
- Kyrie, Op.5 - Bath Camerata/Nigel Perrin (Wells Cathedral: Good Friday, 2007)
- Themes on a Variation, Op.3 - Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra/Robert Ian Winstin (Radio WRPB Princeton, NJ, USA)
- Fanfare, Op.3a - Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra/Robert Ian Winstin (Radio WTJU Charlottesville, Virginia, USA)
- Sacred Prelude, Op.1 - Czech Philharmonic Soloists/Robert Ian Winstin (Radio WRPB Princeton, NJ, USA)
- Sacred Prelude, Op.1 - Czech Philharmonic Soloists/Robert Ian Winstin (Radio WKSU Kent State, Ohio, USA)
- Sacred Prelude, Op.1 - Czech Philharmonic Soloists/Robert Ian Winstin (Radio 2MBS-FM, Sydney, Australia)
- Sacred Prelude, Op.1 - Czech Philharmonic Soloists/Robert Ian Winstin (Radio KCSC/KBCW Oklahoma, OK, USA)
- Kyrie, Op.5 - Tallis Chamber Choir/Philip Simms (Radio 2MBS-FM, Sydney, Australia: Christmas Day, 2007)
- Sacred Prelude, Op.1 - Czech Philharmonic Soloists/Robert Ian Winstin (Radio 2MBS-FM, Sydney, Australia: Christmas Day, 2007)
- Terpsichore, op.7 - Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra/Robert Ian Winstin (Radio WTJU Charlottesville, Virginia, USA)
- Sacred Prelude, Op.1 - Czech Philharmonic Soloists/Robert Ian Winstin (Radio WRPB Princeton, NJ, USA)
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