Professor Neal J Farwell

Neal Farwell composes music for instruments and voices, for the “acousmatic” fixed medium, and for the meeting points of human players and live electronics. His work is commissioned by notable performers and performed internationally. Current projects include a co-commission by Trio Sonore and the Brigstow Institute of the University of Bristol, Gravity's Horizon for flute, cello, piano and live electronics; a two-part work for choir and for ensemble, which meet through electronic intervention; and a large-scale work for multi-channel fixed media. Recent key works include Solaire (2016) for Ensemble Variances, Paris; Rain From Other Seasons (2014), for Trio Aporia (baroque trio and electronics); Photographs of Water (2013), a composition for multi-channel fixed media; and Songs and Shards (2012) for piano and electronics. Neal's research is particularly concerned with discovering a compositional practice to meld the sonic richness of electroacoustic music with the multiple resonances of our older musical heritage, and he explores these questions both through the creative language and through innovating means of technological support. As director of the Bristol University Loudspeaker Orchestra, Neal curates the concert series Sonic Voyages, an international forum for performance of electroacoustic music.