Geoffrey King (born 1949) is a British

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

Biography

Born in

Croydon, England Croydon is a large town in South London, south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts i ...

, King's first musical studies were at the Royal School of Church Music at Addington Palace. Later, at the Royal College of Music, he studied with Humphrey Searle, Justin Connolly and Alexander Goehr. As a postgraduate, he undertook further work with

Alexander Goehr Peter Alexander Goehr (; born 10 August 1932) is an English composer and academic. Goehr was born in Berlin in 1932, the son of the conductor and composer Walter Goehr, a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg. In his early twenties he emerged as a centra ...

at University of Southampton and also with Jonathan Harvey. With an Italian government scholarship, he went to study with Ernesto Rubin de Cervin at the Conservatorio "Benedetto Marcello" in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. In 1976, King moved to Edinburgh to work at

St Mary's Music School St Mary's Music School is a music school in Scotland in the West End of Edinburgh, for boys and girls aged 9 to 19 and is also the Choir School of St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral. The school, which is non-denominational, provides education for ...

and during this time, together with Peter Nelson, he formed ECAT, the Scottish promoter of new music concerts. After twelve years in Edinburgh, he moved to The Hague to do further study at the Koninklijk Conservatorium and subsequently settled in Amsterdam, where he now lives. From 1987-89 he was composer-in-residence at Huddersfield Polytechnic and then at the NCOS (National Centre for Orchestral Studies) in London.

Works

Geoffrey King has written about 100 works. His orchestral music includes several symphonies and concertante pieces. He has also written much instrumental/chamber music and some vocal and theatre music. He has been commissioned and performed by some of the main ensembles and new music promoters, including Aldeburgh Festival, Almeida Festival,

Arditti Quartet The Arditti Quartet is a string quartet founded in 1974 and led by the British violinist Irvine Arditti. The quartet is a globally recognized promoter of contemporary classical music and has a reputation for having a very wide repertoire. T ...

, 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.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Geoffrey 1949 births Living people British classical composers British male classical composers 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Alumni of the University of Southampton Academics of the University of Huddersfield Alumni of the Royal College of Music 20th-century British composers 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians