Münchener Biennale

Kenneth Hesketh (b. 1968) began composing whilst a chorister at Liverpool Cathedral, later studying at the Royal College of Music. He attended Tanglewood in 1995 where he studied with Henri Dutilleux and was subsequently awarded a scholarship from the Toepfer Foundation at the behest of Sir Simon Rattle. He is now a professor at the Royal College of Music and honorary professor at Liverpool University. He was New Music Fellow at Kettle's Yard, Cambridge from 2003-2005.
He has received numerous national and international commissions from, amongst others, the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University, a Faber Millennium Commission for Birmingham Contemporary Music Group premiered under Sir Simon Rattle, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko, the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Vasilly Sinaisky, Hans Werner Henze and the Endymion Ensemble (in honour of Henze's 75th birthday), the Munich Biennale, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Michael Vyner Trust for the London Sinfonietta, The Opera Group, ensemble Psappha and Kissinger Sommer Internationales Musikfestival. Hesketh’s transcription of Aphex Twin’s Polygon Window was part of the hugely successful London Sinfonietta and WARP records collaboration which toured Europe and was released on CD. In 2007 Hesketh was made Composer in the House (Royal Philharmonic Society/ PRS Foundation scheme) with the RLPO.

Recent performances include a 40 minute cycle of pieces for piano titled Horae (pro Clara) for the British pianist Clare Hammond which were premiered in its complete form at the Cheltenham Festival in 2013. Hesketh was a visiting guest composer at the Bowdoin Festival in the USA, and lectured on his works in Seoul, Korea at Yonsei and Ewha Universities. The first NMC recording devoted to large ensemble and orchestral works by the composer, titled "Wunderkammer(konzert)", was released in 2013. Hesketh's recent work for dance, Forms entangled, shapes collided, commissioned by ensemble Psappha and Phoenix Dance Theatre, through the support of The Royal Philharmonic Society Drummond Fund, toured nationally throughout 2013 with final performances in the Royal Opera House, Lindbury Theatre.
Future performances include the world premiere of his string quartet, Sisyphus’ Punishment by the Haba Quartet and his orchestral work Knotted Tongues by the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Conductor Yongyan Hu at the Beijing Concert Hall as part of 2014 Beijing Modern Music Festival, China where he will be a featured composer. He will also be teaching at the Summer Academy of the Ionian University where he will be lecturing on his works for film and dance.

In 2011 Notte Oscura for piano solo (Peter O'Hagan) was released on the UHR label, Point Forms (after Kandinsky) for Basset clarinet was released on the NMC label (Mark Simpson and Ian Buckle), and Three Japanese Miniatures was released on the Prima Facie label (Clare Hammond) in 2011 and in 2013 on the Teriyaki label (Hanna Shybayeva). Hesketh's third solo disc will be released in 2014 on the Prima Facie label featuring works for 2 pianos and piano four hands.

Quelle: http://www.kennethhesketh.co.uk/