Thomas Simaku (born 18 April 1958, in

Kavajë Kavajë ( , sq-definite, Kavaja) is a city and municipality centrally located in the Western Lowlands region of Albania, in Tirana County. It borders Durrës to the north , Tirana, Tiranë to the east and Rrogozhinë to the south . To the west ...

) is an Albanian-born British composer.

Education

Simaku studied composition between the years 1978–1982 at the

Academy of Music and Arts of Albania The University of Arts (), formerly known as the Academy of Arts (), is a public university and the main institution that offers higher education of arts in Albania. History Founded in 1966 as the Higher Institute of Arts (), it merged three arti ...

under

Tonin Harapi Tonin Harapi (June 9, 1926 – July 30, 1992) was an Albanian composer and teacher. He was born in Shkodër, Albania. He studied composition in Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by popula ...

. After graduation he was nominated as Director of Music at the Palace of Culture of Permet, in southern Albania. In 1991 Simaku moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to study for a PhD in composition with David Blake at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

, which he was awarded in 1996.

Prizes and Awards

Notable prizes and awards that Simaku has won include: * 1993:

Lionel Robbins Lionel Charles Robbins, Baron Robbins, (22 November 1898 – 15 May 1984) was a British economist, and prominent member of the economics department at the London School of Economics (LSE). He is known for his leadership at LSE, his proposed de ...

Memorial Scholarship, being the only candidate from the UK to win that year. * 1996:

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

Fellowship in Composition at Tanglewood Music Centre in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

with

Bernard Rands Bernard Rands (born 2 March 1934 in Sheffield, England) is a British and American contemporary classical composer. He studied music and English literature at the University of Wales, Bangor, and composition with Pierre Boulez and Bruno Maderna ...

. * 1998: Fellowship at the Composers' Workshop at

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a Public university, public university system in California, and the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest public university system in the United States ...

with

Brian Ferneyhough Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and ...

. * 2000: Fellowship from the Arts & Humanities Research Council in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. * 2004: Serocki International Prize, Warsaw. * 2009: British Composer Award (Instrumental) for ''Soliloquy V: Flauto Acerbo''. * 2013: First Prize in the International Composition Competition for Lutoslawski's 100th Birthday for ''Concerto for Orchestra''.

Performances

Simaku's music has been performed throughout the UK and Europe, as well as in North America, Australia and the Far East. In 1995 his work Epitaph for String Orchestra was selected by the International Jury for the ISCM World Music Days in Germany - the first ever Albanian music to be included in this prestigious festival. Subsequently, Simaku's works have been selected by the International Jury at the World Music Days of 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2019. Other venues and international festivals where his music has been performed include

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

; King’s College Cambridge; Den Sorte Diamant Hall,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

;

Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (also known by the acronym HCMF, stylised since 2006 as the lowercase hcmf//) is a new music festival held annually in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since its foundation in 1978, it has featu ...

(HCMF); Forum für Neuer Musik,

Deutschlandfunk Deutschlandfunk (DLF, ''Broadcast Germany'') is a public-broadcasting radio station in Germany, concentrating on news and current affairs. It is one of the four national radio channels produced by Deutschlandradio. History Broadcasting in t ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

; New Music

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

; Encontre Internacional de Compositors 2011, Spain; Intrasonus festival, Venice; Moderne Muziek

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

in Holland amongst others. Simaku has given masterclasses and lectures on his music across several universities and music academies in the UK,

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Publication

Simaku’s works have been recorded by internationally renowned musicians and ensembles, including soloists of Ensemble Intercontemporain
Quatour Diotima
and

Kreutzer Quartet The Kreutzer Quartet is a British string quartet. With their selected programs they have given concerts in Italy, Germany, France, Holland, Serbia, Montenegro, Sardinia, the United States, Spain, Cyprus, Poland and Lithuania. A further focus is ...

. Released by labels such as BIS,

NMC NMC may refer to: Education Institutions * National Music Conservatory, Amman, Jordan * Nehru Memorial College, Sullia, Sullia, Karnataka, India * New Method College, a defunct secondary school in Hong Kong * Northern Marianas College, US Maria ...

, and

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

, they have received critical acclaim internationally from, among others,

BBC Music Magazine ''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music. The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC, was the original owner and publisher together with ...

Gramophone Magazine ''Gramophone'' (known as ''The Gramophone'' prior to 1970) is a magazine published monthly in London, devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie who continue ...

, Music Opinion (UK), Diapason (France), Crescendo (Belgium)
Neue Zeitschrift für MusikTempo
Rondo – Das Klassik & Jazz Magazine (Germany), and

Fanfare Magazine ''Fanfare'' is an American bimonthly magazine devoted to reviewing recorded music in all playback formats. It mainly covers classical music, but since inception, has also featured a jazz column in every issue. History and profile ''Fanfare'' wa ...

(USA).

Discography

* SOLO – Soloists of Ensemble Intercontemporain NMC Catalogue No
NMCD278
Release Date: 09/2023 * Con-ri-sonanza BIS Catalogue No
BIS-2449
Release Date: 11/2020 Selected by

Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...

in their best of year (coup-de-coeur) list. * Solos & Duos Catalogue No
Naxos 8.579035
Release Date: 08/2019 * String Quartets Nos 2 and 3, Soliloquy I, II, III Catalogue No
Naxos 8.570428
Release Date: 05/2008. It reached the best of year list in the Fanfare magazine in USA in 2008. * Soliloquy VI for Soprano Saxophone Soprano Saxophone Music (21st Century) BIS, Catalogue No
BIS-2644
Release Date: 11/2023

Selected Works

Orchestra and Large Ensemble

* Canticello for Cello & Orchestra (1997) – Selected for the 1999 ISCM festival, Bucharest * Plenilunio for 12 Solo Strings (1998) – Selected for the 2001 ISCM festival, Japan * The Eagle on the Cross for Orchestra (1998) – World Premiere by English Northern Philharmonia conducted by Elgar Howarth * Luxonorité for Ensemble (2001) – Selected for the Luxembourg Sinfonietta International Competition * Plenilunio II for String Orchestra (2004) – Winning work of the 2004 Serocki International Competition, Warsaw * Hyllus for Orchestra (2004) – Selected for the 2004 ISCM Festival, Croatia * Arc-en-ciel concerto for Cello & Orchestra, 2006 * Insomnio for fifteen players (2007) – commissioned by Deutschlandfunk festival "Forum Neuer Musik", Cologne * The Shadow of a Brass Line for Orchestra (2011) * Concerto for Orchestra (2012) – Winning work of the International Competition for Lutoslawski’s 100th Birthday * The Scream – based on the iconic painting of Munch (2017) –World premiere broadcast on BBC radio 3 * Morea for String Orchestra (2022)

Chamber and Solo Works

=Soliloquy Cycle

= * Soliloquy I for solo violin (2000) – Selected for the 2000 ISCM festival, Luxembourg * Soliloquy II for solo cello (2001) * Soliloquy III for solo viola (2002) – Selected for the 2003 ISCM festival, Slovenia * Soliloquy IV for bass clarinet (2008) * Soliloquy V - Flauto acerbo for Alto & Tenor Recorders (2008) –Selected for the 2012 ISCM festival, Belgium * Soliloquy VI for solo saxophone (2021) * Soliloquy VII for solo clarinet & resonant piano (2019) * Soliloquy VIII for marimba plus (2020-21) * Soliloquy IX for solo trumpet & resonant piano (2021-22)

=String Quartets

= * String Quartet No. 1 (1991) * String Quartet No. 2 ‘Radius’ (2003) * String Quartet No.3 ‘Voci Celesti’ (2004) * String Quartet No. 4, 20 (2010-11) * String Quartet No. 5, 20 (2015)

=Catena Cycle for Solo Piano

= * Catena I (2019) * Catena II (2019-20) * Catena III – Corona (2020-22) * Catena IV (2024)

=Vocal Works

= * Need for Speech for Soprano & Piano (2009) * Three Albanian Folk Songs for female choir (2010) * Locked Door for Soprano & Piano (2010) * Akhmatova Song for soprano & cello (2011) * The Rose of the World for soprano, mixed chorus and large ensemble (2012), a setting of the poem with the same name by the Nobel prize-winning poet W. B. Yeats. * La Leggiadra Luna for mixed choir (2018) - Selected for the 2019 ISCM festival, Estonia

=Mixed Ensemble

= * A2 for Violin & Cello (2008) * Réflexions de la Croix I for six players (2010) * Solar for trumpet, violin, piano (2013) * Deux Esquisses for piano (2013) * EngREnage for Violin & Cello (2017) * Con-ri-sonanza for piano & string quartet (2018) * Klang Inventions for Six Players (2018) * Moj e Bukura Moré for Violin & Piano (2018)

Personal

In 2000, Simaku was granted British citizenship. He lives in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

with his wife and two daughters. Simaku is a Professor of Composition at the

References

External links

Homepage
at the

Biography
at the

University of York Music Press The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simaku, Thomas 1958 births Living people Albanian emigrants to England 20th-century classical composers Male classical composers 20th-century Albanian musicians 21st-century classical composers 20th-century British musicians 21st-century British musicians 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians Academics of the University of York Albanian film score composers Male film score composers