Thomas Meadowcroft
photo: la Maison communale de Plainpalais, Geneva CH, Nov. 2018 (copyright: Nicolas Masson 2018)
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Thomas Meadowcroft is a freelance composer who makes music for the concert hall, theatre and radio.
His work has been described as “reaching an inexpressible purity” (Le Monde), “dreamy post-rock”
(The New York Times), “never-ending, sugar-sweet” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), “hauntingly beautiful”
(The Sydney Morning Herald), and “motorized nostalgia” (The Scotsman, Glasgow).
Thomas’ orchestral music has been performed by, among others, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and
the SWR Symphony Orchestra, his choral music by Der Mädchenchor der Sing-Akademie zu Berlin.
His chamber music has been performed by, among others, ensemble recherche, Eklekto Percussion
Collective, members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop, Speak Percussion,
and Yarn/Wire. His music has been presented at various international festivals and concert series
including Carnegie Hall, the Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center, Lucerne Festival
and Maerzmusik Berlin. Portrait concerts of his music have been given at, among others, Iwaki
Auditorium Melbourne, and Miller Theatre NYC.
Australian by birth, he has lived in Berlin since 1998. To cite the writer Paul Griffiths, 'it is the
resulting distance of the country of the composer's birth that informs several of his projects, in which
memory is coming at us from several different removes'. This is evidenced, for example, in his three
radio plays for German radio, Song Buslines, Moving Homes, and Talkback Burnback, fictional music
soundscapes set in regional Australia; as well as in the sound installation for QAGOMA, Monaro Eden,
which features recordings of cousin Peter's V8 hotrod.
Along with examining aspects of cultural memory in regional Australia, Meadowcroft's music addresses
the political economy of music as part of each work's realization. The News in Music, for live symphony
orchestra, examines TV news music and orchestral media in the service of power, whereas
Die Kinder über dem Informationsmeer (Children over a Sea of Information), for children's choir and
string orchestra, sees children reciting texts culled from YouTube user threads, while accompanied
by chamber pop string arrangements. Another Children’s Television sees the live presentation of
recordings of lost 1970’s library music for public-funded children’s television programs.
As performer, he as performed at various festivals and series, including Issue Project
Room, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and the Pavilion at die Volksbühne am
Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. In 2015 he made orchestral arrangements of the music of Dirk von Lowtzow
for the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg, as part of the opera, Von einem, der auszog...,
by René Pollesch.
His music has been released on Mode Records, New York.
(current to May 2022)
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MEDIA
15.11.22
Members of the St Louis Symphony Orchestra play More Beautiful Discourse MORE INFO
photo: Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St Louis USA, November 2022 (copyright: Virginia Harold 2022)
_________________________
14.10.22
SWR Big Band and SWR SO (cond. Pascal Rophé) play Forever Turnarounds MORE INFO
_________________________
13.10.22
NMZ Media report on Forever Turnarounds MORE INFO
_________________________
21.04.22
'Yarn/Wire' play Forward Through Circles and Another Children's Television MORE INFO
photo: Miller Theater, New York City USA, April 2022 (copyright: Rob Davidson 2022)
_________________________
14.04.2022
Nathan Gathenby plays Rolando Continuo MORE INFO
_________________________
10.11.2021
'Yarn/Wire' play Walkman Antiquarian MORE INFO
_________________________
20.10.2021
'ensemble recherche' play More Beautiful Discourse MORE INFO
_________________________
08.10.2021
Talkback Burnback MORE INFO
"Yeah. Back at homebase and closing, George. / Nah mate, i’m
a bit of a local. I’ll be travelling home tonight. / Yeah copy that.
I’d like to meet um up with ya and just meet ya and shake ya
hand if I could. / I am being released by the almighty and back
to the station. / Cheers mate. Have a safe night."
_________________________
01.02.2021
Recording of Medieval Rococo by Ensemble Offspring MORE INFO
_________________________
29.11.2020
Essay: 'On John Williams - Live in Vienna' MORE INFO
_________________________
31.07.2020
Recording of March Static by Eugene Ughetti (feat. Claire Chase) MORE INFO
_________________________
25.06.2020
Mode Records Disc MORE INFO
_________________________
23.04.2018
Ensemble Offspring play Medieval Rococo MORE INFO
_________________________
23.04.2018
Radio feature on The News in Music MORE INFO
_________________________
30.01.2018
Essay: 'Le Sacre du Primetime' MORE INFO
_________________________
29.11.2017
Jess Tsang and Rob Cosgrove play Cradles MORE INFO
_________________________
20.10.2017
SWR SO (cond. Ilan Volkov) play The News in Music MORE INFO
"...cheap entertainment music. And then when somebody shows up like a village idiot, whose The News
in Music is a US-American modelled news music strung together in a Hollywood-like manner, then it
hails in a concert of 'boos'. (Badische Zeitung)
"His collage of film music soundtracks and news jingles is really super dull." (Bavarian Radio Classic)
"If (the composer) had sold each individual scrap to television companies, he would be a millionaire."
(Musiktexte)
"A strange brew, that hardly gives satirical sharpness to worldly turmoil, so that the ending itself
only looks just as bad in contrast." (Neue Musik Zeitung)
"A scrawled, film music lament about the phenomenon of fake news... more critical radio play than
composition." (Neue Zuercher Zeitung)
"The piece still fits into the trend of new accessibility." (Osnabruecker Zeitung)
"Would it not have been better to make a radio piece out of it? After five minutes everybody gets it.
What comes in the next fifteen minutes afterwards is diffident annoyance." (Schweizer Musikzeitung)
"It's a scandal that not more people were outraged." (Stuttgarter Zeitung)
_________________________
20.10.2017
interview about The News in Music MORE INFO
_________________________
24.05.2016
'Yarn/Wire' play Walkman Antiquarian MORE INFO
_________________________
04.03.2016
Moving Homes MORE INFO
"Severe tropical cyclones may lead to the breakdown of civil
order, from which, as a pretext to returning to this order,
the state can cut basic services, so, ah, grabbed the kids,
but left the dogs, hey."
_________________________
01.05.2015
string arrangements, 'Tocotronic' MORE INFO
_________________________
30.08.2013
Song Buslines MORE INFO
_________________________
25.05.2013
'Speak Percussion' play Cradles MORE INFO
_________________________
19.04.2010
string arrangements, 'Tocotronic' MORE INFO
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONTACT
Thomas Meadowcroft: t[dot]meadowcroft[at]web[dot]de
Or
Philippa Allan (Real Arts): pa[at]realarts[dot]eu
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
IMPRESSUM
Inhaltlich Verantwortlicher gemS§ ¤ 55 Abs. 2 RStV: Thomas Meadowcroft. / Haftungshinweis: Trotz
sorgfaeltiger inhaltlicher Kontrolle uebernehmen wir keine Haftung fuer die Inhalte externer Links.
Fuer den Inhalt der verlinkten Seiten sind ausschlie§lich deren Betreiber verantwortlich. Inhalt
und Struktur sind urheberrechtlich geschuetzt. Die Vervielfaeltigung von Informationen oder Daten,
insbesondere die Verwendung von Texten, Textteilen oder Bildmaterial bedarf der vorherigen
Zustimmung.
2022
Thomas Meadowcroft is a freelance composer who makes music for the concert hall, theatre and radio.
His work has been described as “reaching an inexpressible purity” (Le Monde), “dreamy post-rock”
(The New York Times), “never-ending, sugar-sweet” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), “hauntingly beautiful”
(The Sydney Morning Herald), and “motorized nostalgia” (The Scotsman, Glasgow).
Thomas’ orchestral music has been performed by, among others, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and
the SWR Symphony Orchestra, his choral music by Der Mädchenchor der Sing-Akademie zu Berlin.
His chamber music has been performed by, among others, ensemble recherche, Eklekto Percussion
Collective, members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop, Speak Percussion,
and Yarn/Wire. His music has been presented at various international festivals and concert series
including Carnegie Hall, the Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center, Lucerne Festival
and Maerzmusik Berlin. Portrait concerts of his music have been given at, among others, Iwaki
Auditorium Melbourne, and Miller Theatre NYC.
Australian by birth, he has lived in Berlin since 1998. To cite the writer Paul Griffiths, 'it is the
resulting distance of the country of the composer's birth that informs several of his projects, in which
memory is coming at us from several different removes'. This is evidenced, for example, in his three
radio plays for German radio, Song Buslines, Moving Homes, and Talkback Burnback, fictional music
soundscapes set in regional Australia; as well as in the sound installation for QAGOMA, Monaro Eden,
which features recordings of cousin Peter's V8 hotrod.
Along with examining aspects of cultural memory in regional Australia, Meadowcroft's music addresses
the political economy of music as part of each work's realization. The News in Music, for live symphony
orchestra, examines TV news music and orchestral media in the service of power, whereas
Die Kinder über dem Informationsmeer (Children over a Sea of Information), for children's choir and
string orchestra, sees children reciting texts culled from YouTube user threads, while accompanied
by chamber pop string arrangements. Another Children’s Television sees the live presentation of
recordings of lost 1970’s library music for public-funded children’s television programs.
As performer, he as performed at various festivals and series, including Issue Project
Room, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and the Pavilion at die Volksbühne am
Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. In 2015 he made orchestral arrangements of the music of Dirk von Lowtzow
for the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg, as part of the opera, Von einem, der auszog...,
by René Pollesch.
His music has been released on Mode Records, New York.
(current to May 2022)
15.11.22
Members of the St Louis Symphony Orchestra play More Beautiful Discourse MORE INFO
_________________________
14.10.22
SWR Big Band and SWR SO (cond. Pascal Rophé) play Forever Turnarounds MORE INFO
_________________________
13.10.22
NMZ Media report on Forever Turnarounds MORE INFO
_________________________
21.04.22
'Yarn/Wire' play Forward Through Circles and Another Children's Television MORE INFO
_________________________
14.04.2022
Nathan Gathenby plays Rolando Continuo MORE INFO
_________________________
10.11.2021
'Yarn/Wire' play Walkman Antiquarian MORE INFO
_________________________
20.10.2021
'ensemble recherche' play More Beautiful Discourse MORE INFO
_________________________
08.10.2021
Talkback Burnback MORE INFO
"Yeah. Back at homebase and closing, George. / Nah mate, i’m
a bit of a local. I’ll be travelling home tonight. / Yeah copy that.
I’d like to meet um up with ya and just meet ya and shake ya
hand if I could. / I am being released by the almighty and back
to the station. / Cheers mate. Have a safe night."
01.02.2021
Recording of Medieval Rococo by Ensemble Offspring MORE INFO
_________________________
29.11.2020
Essay: 'On John Williams - Live in Vienna' MORE INFO
_________________________
31.07.2020
Recording of March Static by Eugene Ughetti (feat. Claire Chase) MORE INFO
_________________________
25.06.2020
Mode Records Disc MORE INFO
_________________________
23.04.2018
Ensemble Offspring play Medieval Rococo MORE INFO
_________________________
23.04.2018
Radio feature on The News in Music MORE INFO
_________________________
30.01.2018
Essay: 'Le Sacre du Primetime' MORE INFO
_________________________
29.11.2017
Jess Tsang and Rob Cosgrove play Cradles MORE INFO
_________________________
20.10.2017
SWR SO (cond. Ilan Volkov) play The News in Music MORE INFO
"...cheap entertainment music. And then when somebody shows up like a village idiot, whose The News
in Music is a US-American modelled news music strung together in a Hollywood-like manner, then it
hails in a concert of 'boos'. (Badische Zeitung)
"His collage of film music soundtracks and news jingles is really super dull." (Bavarian Radio Classic)
"If (the composer) had sold each individual scrap to television companies, he would be a millionaire."
(Musiktexte)
"A strange brew, that hardly gives satirical sharpness to worldly turmoil, so that the ending itself
only looks just as bad in contrast." (Neue Musik Zeitung)
"A scrawled, film music lament about the phenomenon of fake news... more critical radio play than
composition." (Neue Zuercher Zeitung)
"The piece still fits into the trend of new accessibility." (Osnabruecker Zeitung)
"Would it not have been better to make a radio piece out of it? After five minutes everybody gets it.
What comes in the next fifteen minutes afterwards is diffident annoyance." (Schweizer Musikzeitung)
"It's a scandal that not more people were outraged." (Stuttgarter Zeitung)
_________________________
20.10.2017
interview about The News in Music MORE INFO
_________________________
24.05.2016
'Yarn/Wire' play Walkman Antiquarian MORE INFO
_________________________
04.03.2016
Moving Homes MORE INFO
"Severe tropical cyclones may lead to the breakdown of civil
order, from which, as a pretext to returning to this order,
the state can cut basic services, so, ah, grabbed the kids,
but left the dogs, hey."
01.05.2015
string arrangements, 'Tocotronic' MORE INFO
_________________________
30.08.2013
Song Buslines MORE INFO
25.05.2013
'Speak Percussion' play Cradles MORE INFO
_________________________
19.04.2010
string arrangements, 'Tocotronic' MORE INFO
Thomas Meadowcroft: t[dot]meadowcroft[at]web[dot]de
Or
Philippa Allan (Real Arts): pa[at]realarts[dot]eu
Inhaltlich Verantwortlicher gemS§ ¤ 55 Abs. 2 RStV: Thomas Meadowcroft. / Haftungshinweis: Trotz
sorgfaeltiger inhaltlicher Kontrolle uebernehmen wir keine Haftung fuer die Inhalte externer Links.
Fuer den Inhalt der verlinkten Seiten sind ausschlie§lich deren Betreiber verantwortlich. Inhalt
und Struktur sind urheberrechtlich geschuetzt. Die Vervielfaeltigung von Informationen oder Daten,
insbesondere die Verwendung von Texten, Textteilen oder Bildmaterial bedarf der vorherigen
Zustimmung.
2022