Out of the Darkness

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Composer Information

Educated at Dartington Hall School and The Royal College of Music, Julian Marshall became known internationally in the late ’70s as co-creator (with Kit Hain) of the group Marshall Hain – and especially for their massive hit record Dancing in the City. He was also a member of The Flying Lizards who scored a top 5 hit with Money in 1979. In the 80’s he formed the group Eye to Eye with American songwriter and performer Deborah Berg – recording two classic albums for Warner Brothers produced by Steely Dan producer Gary Katz and a latter day third album produced by Rhett Davies.

He has been an A&R man for Polydor records, produced records, played as a session musician on both sides of the Atlantic, been a life long improviser and jazz player and given solo improvised piano recitals – latterly providing music for Shaping the Invisible – the theatre company he formed with theatre maker and performer Emma Roberts. He has also spent many years running his own highly successful teaching and mentoring practice while also lecturing at Dartington College of Arts, Plymouth University and elsewhere.

But it is composition that has been his consuming passion over time – now firmly at the centre of his creative life. Compositions include a broad range of music – from a Missa Brevis written when the composer was 17 (composed for and recorded by the Dartington Hall School choir); many jazz compositions for own bands (which include being played live, recorded and broadcast); many songs for above named bands; a film score for the Orion Pictures movie Old Enough; a millennium commission written for the Plymouth Symphony Orchestra and several school choirs entitled The Clock of the Long Now (written with a text by poet Rose Cook). His cantata Out of the Darkness was premiered in March 2009 and he has several works in progress.

Performer Information

Howard Moody has a versatile career as a composer, conductor and keyboard player. As a conductor he aims to generate innovative and exciting events that break down barriers between different styles of music as well as commission new works. He is principal conductor and artistic director of Sarum Orchestra and has also conducted the BBC SO, the Hallé, Bournemouth Orchestras, RLPO, Ulster Orchestra, Orchestra delle Toscana, Opera Factory, Icelandic Opera, Netherlands Radio Chorus, Romanian State Chorus, Schola Cantorum, Salisbury Festival Chorus, and numerous choral groups throughout Europe. He has been music director on projects for the LSO and Norwich Theatre Royal and the BBC. He has also worked on the music staff of ENO and Glyndebourne. Recordings include BBC, Netherlands Radio, Chandos, and ECM. For more information please visit Howard’s website

Melanie Pappenheim is a singer, performer and composer. Her versatility has allowed her to explore several different genres. As a singer she has worked with leading contemporary composers including Jocelyn Pook, Gavin Bryars, Graham Fitkin and Orlando Gough. Her voice can be heard on soundtracks to Derek Jarman’s The Garden and Edward II, Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York, Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut and most recently Caotica Ana and Room In Rome by the celebrated Spanish director Julio Medem. She garnered critical and popular acclaim for her vocal contribution to the TV series Doctor Who and appeared in a BBC prom dedicated to Doctor Who composer Murray Gold. Together with fellow Shout singer Rebecca Askew she has performed the successful duet FLAM (music by Orlando Gough, directed by Emma Bernard) nationally and abroad as well as other specially commissioned voice theatre works.

Sophie Harris graduated from Chethams School Of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music, where she won numerous prizes. Moving to London, she spent five years with the award-winning Smith Quartet, following her passion for contemporary music. Since then her work has diversified both as a soloist and with ensembles, performing, recording, and commissioning new cello works with a range of composers and musicians including Steve Reich, Gavin Bryars, Michael Nyman, Kevin Volans, Django Bates, Graham Fitkin, Egberto Gismonte, Melody Gardot and jazz luminary Sam Rivers. She has collaborated extensively with composer Jocelyn Pook on soundtracks for film, most notably Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, and with Gavin Bryars on a specially commissioned score for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

Sophie plays a wide repertoire in her extensive performances, CD recordings and radio broadcasts with many of Britain’s leading chamber ensembles – including the Brodsky Quartet, Hilliard Ensemble, Ensemble Moderne and Lontano. Sophie is the cellist in the Duke Quartet. Her cello was made by Daniel Parker in 1730.

The Schoolhouse 6 Ensemble is a collective of musicians brought together by Julian Marshall specifically to record and perform “Out of the Darkness” and future works written by him.

Concerts

“Out of the Darkness” received its world première at Winchester Cathedral in March 2009, and followed by the London première the same month. Further concerts are planned for Brighton (Nov 20), Totnes (Nov 28), London St. James Piccadilly (Dec 16). More concerts are planned for the UK and in Europe for the spring of 2010.