Andrew Ford OAM (born 1957) is an English-born Australian composer, writer, and radio presenter, known for The Music Show on ABC Radio National.
Early life and education
editAndrew Ford was born in 1957 in Liverpool, UK.[1][2]
He attended St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, Kent, then studied at Lancaster University with Edward Cowie and John Buller. As a student, a meeting with Sir Michael Tippett had a profound influence on him, when he told him "to forget about musical systems and trust his instincts".[2]
Career
editFord was a research fellow in music Bradford University from 1978 to 1982.[3]
After moving to Australia, he lectured at the School of Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong, NSW, from 1983 to 1995,[3] and during this time earned a PhD for his thesis on musical word setting from Elvis Costello to Elliott Carter.[2]
Ford was composer-in-residence with the Australian Chamber Orchestra (1992–94),[2] held the Peggy Glanville-Hicks Composer Fellowship from 1998 to 2000 and was awarded a two-year fellowship by the Music Board of the Australia Council for the Arts for 2005 to 2006.[4] He was appointed composer-in-residence at the Australian National Academy of Music in 2009.[2]
Other activities
editHe has written widely on music and published or co-written eleven books. For the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, he wrote, presented and co-produced the radio series Illegal Harmonies, Dots on the Landscape, Music and Fashion, Earth Dances and Three Front Doors a Paddock (with painter Ben Quilty)[2]
Since 1995 he has presented The Music Show on ABC Radio National.[2]
Recognition and awards
edit- 1982: Yorkshire Arts Composers Award, joint winner (with Mark-Anthony Turnage) for Portraits[2]
- 1998: Peggy Glanville-Hicks Composer Fellowship, a two-year fellowship during which he began work on The Waltz Book[2]
- 1998: Pascall Prize for critical writing[2]
- 1998: Sydney Spring Festival award, for Tattoo[2]
- 2002: Jean Bogan Prize, for The Waltz Book[2]
- 2004: Paul Lowin Song Cycle Prize, for Learning to Howl[2]
- 2007: shortlisted, Prix Italia, for his radiophonic work Elegy in a Country Graveyard
- 2010: Green Room Award, for the music for the opera Rembrandt's Wife[2]
- 2012: Albert H. Maggs Composition Award for his work Rauha[2]
- 2013: shortlisted, Paul Lowin Prize, for Blitz and Willow Songs
- 2014: Poynter Fellow and visiting composer at Yale University[2]
- 2015: visiting lecturer at the Shanghai Conservatory[2]
- 2016: shortlisted, Paul Lowin Prize, for Last Words[5]
- 2016: Order of Australia Medal[2]
- 2018: H. C. Coombs Creative Arts Fellow at the Australian National University[2]
- 2020: Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award, Facilitator's Prize (awarded 2021)[6]
APRA / Art Music Awards
editThe APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).[7] They include the Art Music Awards (until 2009 Classical Music Awards) which are distributed by APRA and the Australian Music Centre (AMC).[8] These awards include:[4]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Learning to Howl – Ford | Best Composition by an Australian Composer[9] | Won |
| 2005 | Tales of the Supernatural – Ford – Australian String Quartet, Jane Edwards | Vocal or Choral Work of the Year[10] | Won |
| 2008 | Ford | Outstanding Contribution by an Individual[11] | Nominated |
| 2009 | Learning to Howl – Ford – Arcko Symphonic Project | Best Performance of an Australian Composition[12] | Nominated |
| 2011 | A Dream of Drowning – Ford – West Australian Symphony Orchestra | Work of the Year – Orchestral[13] | Nominated |
| 2013 | Blitz – Ford – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra | Work of the Year – Orchestral[14] | Nominated |
| 2014 | Last Words – Ford – Jane Sheldon and the Seraphim Trio | Work of the Year – Vocal/Choral[15][2] | Won |
| String Quartet No. 5 – Ford – Australian String Quartet | Work of the Year – Instrumental[16] | Nominated |
Selected works
editStage works
edit- Poe, opera (1983, premiered 1985, Sydney Opera House)[17]
- Whispers for tenor and chamber orchestra (1990)
- Casanova Confined for baritone and backing track (1995)
- Night and Dreams: The Death of Sigmund Freud for tenor and backing track (1999)
- Rembrandt's Wife (libretto by Sue Smith), opera (2007–2009)[2]
- Peter Pan, children's opera (2017), for Gondwana Choirs
Orchestral
edit- Concerto for Orchestra (1980)
- The Big Parade (1986)
- Manhattan Epiphanies for string orchestra (1999)
- The Furry Dance (1999)
- Scenes from Bruegel for chamber orchestra (2006)
- Headlong (2006), for 75th birthday of Sydney Symphony Orchestra
- Symphony (2008)
- Bright Shiners for string orchestra (2009)
- Blitz for orchestra, (optional) chorus and pre-recorded voices (2011)
- Big Bang for orchestra (2019)
- The Meaning of Trees for orchestra (2020), for Australian Youth Orchestra, premiered 2022[2]
Concertos
edit- Piano Concerto: Imaginings (1991)
- The Great Memory for cello and orchestra (1994)
- The Unquiet Grave for viola and chamber orchestra (1997–1998)
- Raga for electric guitar and orchestra (2015–2016)
Vocal and choral
edit- A Martian Sends a Postcard Home for tenor, horn and piano (1986)
- Wassails and Lullabies for SATB choir and percussion (1989), recorded by ABC Classics
- Harbour for tenor and string orchestra (1992)
- The Past for counter-tenor, flute and string orchestra (with ad lib didgeridoo) (1997), a setting of Oodgeroo Noonuccal's poem 'The Past' and excerpts from James Cook's ship's log
- Learning to Howl for soprano, clarinet/sax, harp and percussion (2001)
- Tales of the Supernatural for folk singer and string quartet (2002)
- An die Musik for SATB choir (2005)
- Elegy in a Country Graveyard for SATB choir, brass or concert band (flexible instrumentation) and pre-recorded voices and instruments (2007)
- Domestic Advice for soprano and piano (2007)
- A Singing Quilt for SATB choir, percussion ensemble and pre-recorded voices (2008)
- Willow Songs: six poems of Anne Stevenson for soprano, mezzo-soprano and mixed ensemble (2009)
- Waiting for the Barbarians for large chorus (2011), based on the poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
- Last Words, song cycle for piano trio and soprano (2013 premiered by Anna Goldsworthy, Seraphim Trio, Jane Sheldon)[18]
- The Drowners for baritone and chamber orchestra (2015)
- Missa brevis for SATB choir and organ (2015)
- Comeclose and Sleepnow for singer and jazz ensemble (2016), to words by Adrian Henri, Brian Patten and Roger McGough
- Nature for mezzo-soprano and ensemble (2019), to words by Jen Hadfield, R.S. Thomas, Robert Adamson, Tomas Tranströmer, Maria Takolander, Edward Thomas and W.B. Yeats
- The Blessing for mezzo-soprano and oboe (2021), libretto by J.M. Coetzee based on a scene from his novel Elizabeth Costello
- Red Dirt Hymns for voices and instruments (2020–24), lyrics by Jordie Albiston, David McCooey, John Kinsella, Ellen van Neerven, Judith Bishop, Judith Beveridge, Sarah Holland-Batt, Stephen Edgar, Kate Fagan, Merlinda Bobis, Mark Wakely, Felicity Plunkett, Philip Harvey, Erik Jensen, Jill Jones, Maria Takolander, Melanie Horsnell, Martha Marlow, Alison Flett and Lisa Brockwell
- I Sing the Birth for children's choir and electric guitar (2024)
Ensemble
edit- Chamber Concerto No 3: In Constant Flight for solo violin and ensemble (1988)
- Ringing the Changes for piccolo, bass clarinet and piano (1990)
- Pastoral for string octet (1991)
- Tattoo for 12 timpani (6 players) and 4 pianos (1998)
- Icarus Drowning (1998)
- Chamber Concerto No. 4 (2002)
- Sad Jigs for string quintet (2005)
- A Reel, a Fling and a Ghostly Galliard (String Quartet No 2) (2006)
- Oma kodu for clarinet and string quartet (2006)
- Nine Fantasies about Brahms for piano trio (2009)
- On Winter's Traces for piccolo, bass clarinet, piano and string quartet (2009) for the 30th anniversary of the Australia Ensemble
- The Rising (2010) for the Black Dyke Band
- The Scattering of Light for piano quartet (2010) commissioned to mark the centenary of the University of Queensland
- String Quartet No 3 (2012) for the Brodsky Quartet
- String Quartet No 4 (2012) for the NOISE String Quartet
- String Quartet No 5 (2013) for the Australian String Quartet
- Uproar for 11 trombones and four bass drums (2013)
- Common Ground for two string quartets (2014)
- Contradance for 11 players (2015)
- String Quartet No 6 (2014–17) for the Flinders Quartet
- Scenes from Streeton (2019) for Arcadia Winds
- String Quartet No 7: Eden Ablaze (2020) for the Brodsky Quartet and William Barton
Instrumental
edit- Like Icarus ascending for solo violin (1984)
- Swansong for solo viola (1987)
- Spinning for solo alto flute (1988)
- The Very End of Harvest for viola and piano (2000)
- The Waltz Book (60 one-minute waltzes for solo piano, 2002; commissioned by Ian Munro)[2]
- War and Peace for violin and percussion (2004)
- Chorales from an Ox Life for viola and double bass (2007)
- Folly for solo piano (2007)
- You Must Sleep, but I Must Dance for viola and percussion (2010)
- On Reflection for two pianos (2012)
- Once upon a time there were two brothers...for flute and voice (2013)
- Hook for solo vibraphone (2018)
- In My Solitude for solo viola (2020)
Radiophonic
edit- Deirdre of the Sorrows (1989)
- Elegy in a Country Graveyard (2007)
- Untuning the Sky (2013)
Books
edit- Composer to Composer: Conversations about Contemporary Music (paperback 1993, ISBN 1-86373-443-0, hardback 1993, ISBN 0-7043-7061-1, 2nd edition paperback 1997, ISBN 0-86806-631-1)
- Illegal Harmonies: Music in the 20th Century (hardback 1997, ISBN 0-86806-635-4; 2nd ed. paperback 2002, ISBN 0-7333-1130-X, expanded 3rd ed. 2011, ISBN 978-1-86395-528-7)
- Undue Noise: Words about Music (paperback). ABC Books. 2002. ISBN 0-7333-1057-5.
- Buzacott, Martin; with Andrew Ford (2005). Speaking in Tongues: The Songs of Van Morrison (paperback). ABC Books. ISBN 0-7333-1297-7.
- In Defence of Classical Music (hardback). ABC Books. 2005. ISBN 0-7333-1594-1.
- The Sound of Pictures: Listening to the Movies from Hitchcock to High Fidelity (paperback). Melbourne: Black Inc. 2010. ISBN 978-1-86395-510-2.
- Try Whistling This: Writings about Music (paperback). Melbourne: Black Inc. 2012. ISBN 978-1-86395-571-3.
- Earth Dances: Music in Search of the Primitive (paperback). Melbourne: Black Inc. 2015. ISBN 978-1-86395-712-0.
- The Memory of Music (paperback). Melbourne: Black Inc. 2017. ISBN 978-1-86395-949-0.
- with Anni Heino (2019). The Song Remains the Same: 800 Years of Love Songs, Laments and Lullabies (paperback). Melbourne: La Trobe University Press. ISBN 978-1-76064-011-8.
- The Shortest History of Music (paperback). Melbourne: Black Inc. 2024. ISBN 978-1-76064-408-6.
References
edit- ^ "Ford, Andrew, 1957-". Social Networks and Archival Context. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w "About Andrew Ford". Andrew Ford. 11 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ a b Joyce Kennedy; Michael Kennedy; Tim Rutherford-Johnson, eds. (2013). "Ford, Andrew". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music (5th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199578108. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ a b Andrew Ford : Represented Artist, Australian Music Centre
- ^ "Australian Music Centre Online : Breaking Sound Barriers".
- ^ "Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award to Andrew Ford". Andrew Ford. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2023.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ "APRA History". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ "Classical Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 28 September 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ "2004 Winners – Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ "2005 Winners – Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ "2008 Finalists – Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ "2009 Finalists – Classical Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 18 September 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ "Art Music Awards 2011 – finalists announced". Australian Music Centre(AMC). Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ^ "Art Music Awards 2013 – finalists announced". Australian Music Centre (AMC). Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ^ "2014 Art Music Awards – winners". Australian Music Centre (AMC). Retrieved 7 March 2017.
- ^ "2014 Art Music Awards – finalists". Australian Music Centre (AMC). Retrieved 7 March 2017.
- ^ Poe – The Terror of the Soul, work details at Australian Music Centre
- ^ Last Words Archived 25 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine, program notes and texts
Further reading
edit- "Composer's subterranean half-century". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 March 2007.
