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Review of 2020
Opinion Phillip Cooke Opinion Phillip Cooke

Review of 2020

Every New Year I write a brief review of what I have been up to in the previous year: all the concerts, commissions, broadcasts etc - it is an entirely positive and rose-tinted appraisal of the previous 12 months. However, this year I’m finding that process just a little bit more difficult, and it is genuinely quite hard to paint a totally optimistic picture of 2020: as an academic and musician it has been a bleak and barren year, and one of the most challenging in my life.

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On ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’…
Opinion Phillip Cooke Opinion Phillip Cooke

On ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’…

Due to the wonders of COVID-19, it has been a long time since I have met another composer in the flesh, a long time since we welcomed another creator of original music to the university to give a talk, a seminar or to give tutorials. It has been a long time since we entertained another creative musician in the wonderful hostelries of Old Aberdeen Town, and all that entails. Now, you may be wondering why I am badgering on about this, whether I’m being nostalgic, sad or hankering for the on-campus experience denied to many academics.

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On ‘What are you currently writing?’
Opinion Phillip Cooke Opinion Phillip Cooke

On ‘What are you currently writing?’

Due to the wonders of COVID-19, it has been a long time since I have met another composer in the flesh, a long time since we welcomed another creator of original music to the university to give a talk, a seminar or to give tutorials. It has been a long time since we entertained another creative musician in the wonderful hostelries of Old Aberdeen Town, and all that entails. Now, you may be wondering why I am badgering on about this, whether I’m being nostalgic, sad or hankering for the on-campus experience denied to many academics.

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Summer Round Up
Tobias Patrick Wolf Tobias Patrick Wolf

Summer Round Up

I haven’t updated my website for quite a while (five months in fact), this being for two reasons: firstly, as I am in the process of transferring all this information to a new, all-singing-all-dancing website and secondly that not an awful lot has happened in these joyous months of 2020. However, some things have happened since April, so I guess I should do a sort of round up.

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On Artists and Isolation (or Composers and the Coronavirus)
Opinion Tobias Patrick Wolf Opinion Tobias Patrick Wolf

On Artists and Isolation (or Composers and the Coronavirus)

In the UK we are entering the end of our fourth week of ‘lockdown’ in which families and individuals are asked to stay in the their houses, to try to work from home and to avoid contact with other people at all times – you don’t need me to tell you about how unprecedented, challenging and destablising the whole situation is. But it is what it is, and it is for the safety and health of the nation, if not the world, that we isolate ourselves.

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Review of 2019
Opinion philll Opinion philll

Review of 2019

2019 was a busy, exhilarating, but often stressful year with lots of highs and lows. In my day job I continued as Head of Music at the University of Aberdeen and made some useful contributions.

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The Month Ahead
Performance, Premiere philll Performance, Premiere philll

The Month Ahead

There are a few performances (that I know about...) coming up in the Christmas period, some of which I will able to make. The first of which is the London premiere of my recent Salve Regina (2019) given by the City University Chamber Choir, conducted by Rory McCleery. This will take place at St Clement's Church, Finsbury, London, on the 04 December.

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On Forgetting How to Write Music…
Opinion philll Opinion philll

On Forgetting How to Write Music…

About a year ago I wrote a blog entry entitled ‘On Not Writing Music’ where I discussed how little music I had written that year and how strange it was for a ‘professional’ composer not to be composing. And I was left wondering how and when I would get back on the compositional horse. It was a classic.

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The Month Ahead
Performance, Premiere philll Performance, Premiere philll

The Month Ahead

Autumn is a busy time for performances and premieres across the world (and it isn't that often I can say that!). The 22 September sees the American premiere of my song cycle Lakesongs (2011) by Ellen Scholl, Matthew McBride-Daline and Kevin Bylsma in Toledo, Ohio with further performances in October.

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