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'''Mark Simpson''' (born 26 September 1988) is a [[British people|British]] [[composer]] and [[clarinettist]] from [[Liverpool]], who won the [[BBC Young Musician of the Year]] 2006 title on 20 May 2006, playing [[Carl Nielsen|Nielsen]]'s [[Clarinet Concerto (Nielsen)|Clarinet Concerto]] with the [[Northern Sinfonia]] and [[Yan Pascal Tortelier]] at [[The Sage Gateshead]]. In the same year, Simpson was also the winner of the [[BBC]] Young Composer of the Year competition, becoming the only person in history to have ever won both competitions.
'''Mark Simpson''' (born 26 September 1988) is a [[British people|British]] [[composer]] and [[clarinettist]] from [[Liverpool]]. In 2006, he became notable for winning both the [[BBC Young Musician|BBC Young Musician of the Year]] (as clarinettist) and the BBC Proms/Guardian Young Composer of the Year, making him the first and, to date, only person to win both competitions.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Mark Simpson: Biography|url=https://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main?composerid=18581&ttype=BIOGRAPHY|access-date=2020-07-26|website=www.boosey.com}}</ref>


== Education ==
He resides in [[Merseyside]] and attended [[King David School, Liverpool|King David High School]], Liverpool before attending the [[Royal Northern College of Music]] junior department where he studied [[clarinet]] with Nicholas Cox.
Simpson attended [[King David School, Liverpool|King David High School]], Liverpool and attended the [[Royal Northern College of Music]] junior department where he studied [[clarinet]] with Nicholas Cox<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-01-03|title=Mark Simpson interview: Liverpool-born classical composer {{!}} Your Move|url=https://ymliverpool.com/mark-simpson-interview-liverpool-born-classical-composer/22611|access-date=2020-07-26|website=YM Liverpool|language=en-GB}}</ref> and composition with [[Gary Carpenter (composer)|Gary Carpenter]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Mark Simpson, BBC Young Musician of the Year 2006|url=https://congletonchoralsociety.org.uk/mark_simpson.htm|access-date=2020-07-26|website=congletonchoralsociety.org.uk}}</ref> After a term at the [[Royal College of Music]], Simpson attended [[St Catherine's College, Oxford|St. Catherine's College]], [[Oxford University]], reading for a BA in Music from 2008–2011. He also studied composition with [[Julian Anderson]] at the [[Guildhall School of Music and Drama]] and studied clarinet privately with Mark van de Wiel.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bachtrack Composers Project: Mark Simpson (b.1988)|url=https://bachtrack.com/interview-mark-simpson|access-date=2020-07-26|website=bachtrack.com|language=en}}</ref>


== Career as clarinettist ==
He was also Principal Clarinet in the [[National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain]], playing a Peter Eaton clarinet. After a term at the [[Royal College of Music]], Simpson spent the rest of his gap year in [[Berlin]], and attended [[St Catherine's College, Oxford|St. Catherine's College]], [[Oxford University]] reading for a BA in Music from 2008–2011.
While at school, Simpson was principal clarinet in the [[National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain]].<ref name=":1" /> He won the [[BBC Young Musician of the Year]] title on 20 May 2006, playing [[Carl Nielsen|Nielsen]]'s [[Clarinet Concerto (Nielsen)|Clarinet Concerto]] with the [[Northern Sinfonia]], conducted by [[Yan Pascal Tortelier]] at [[The Sage Gateshead]].


⚫
The following year, he performed at the [[The Proms|Last Night of the Proms]] in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]], [[London]], performing [[Artie Shaw]]'s ''Concerto for Clarinet''.<ref>{{cite web|title=BBC - Proms - Proms in the Park - London|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2007/pitp/london.shtml}}</ref> On 3 July 2008 he played in Liverpool as the solo clarinettist for the premiere of [[Emily Howard]]'s ''Liverpool, The World in One City'' along with the Liverpool Youth Orchestra and five hundred primary school children.<ref>{{cite web|title=BBC - Liverpool - Capital of Culture - Capital of Culture Mark was commissioned to write a piece for the Last Night of the Proms. sparks will be performed at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 8 September 2012. Events|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2006/11/06/capital_culture_launch_listings_nov06_feature.shtml}}</ref>
⚫
He is a [[composer]], who was commissioned by the [[Royal Liverpool Philharmonic]] and [[National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain]] to write his first orchestral piece, ''Threads for Orchestra '', which premièred at The Sage Gateshead on 1 April 2008. His ''It Was As if the Earth Stood Still'' was broadcast over [[BBC Radio 3]]'s "Hear and Now" in November 2005,<ref>{{cite web|title=Ensemble 10/10 Program Listings on Hear and Now|publisher=BBC Radio 3|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/hearandnow/pip/pib6y/|date=2005-11-05|accessdate=2008-01-19}}</ref> and his Lov(escape) in the concert he gave as one of the finalists in the Young Musician competition in September 2006.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wigmore Hall Series of Young Musician Finalists: Mark Simpson|date=2006-09-14|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/youngmusician/competition/wigmore_mark.shtml|accessdate=2008-01-19|publisher=BBC Radio 3}}</ref> In 2015 he was announced as the [[BBC Philharmonic]]'s Composer in Association.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mark Simpson named as the BBC Philharmonic's new Composer in Association|url=http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/mark-simpson-named-as-the-bbc-philharmonics-new-composer-in-association|work=[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]|date=26 February 2015}}</ref>


Other notable concerto performances include [[Magnus Lindberg]]'s ''Clarinet Concerto'' at the 2018 Proms with the BBC Philharmonic,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Prom 4: Mark Simpson impresses in Lindberg's Clarinet Concerto|url=https://bachtrack.com/review-prom-4-simpson-mena-lindberg-leningrad-bbc-philharmonic-july-2018|access-date=2020-07-26|website=bachtrack.com|language=en}}</ref> [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]]’s ''Gnarly Buttons'' with the [[BBC National Orchestra of Wales]], and appearances with the [[Royal Liverpool Philharmonic]], [[Royal Northern Sinfonia]] [[City of London Sinfonia]] and [[BBC Concert Orchestra]].<ref name=":0" />
He has played at the [[The Proms|Last Night of the Proms]] in 2007 at [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]] [[London]], performing [[Artie Shaw]]'s ''Concerto for Clarinet''.<ref>{{cite web|title=BBC - Proms - Proms in the Park - London|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2007/pitp/london.shtml}}</ref>


Simpson has also commissioned and premiered new works including [[Simon Holt]]'s ''Joy Beast'' (2017), a concerto for basset clarinet<ref>{{Cite web|title=Simon Holt & BBC Philharmonic: Joy Beast|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ebmhj5|access-date=2020-07-26|website=BBC Music Events|language=en}}</ref> and Edmund Finnis' ''Four Duets'' (2012) for clarinet and piano.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-12-01|title=Edmund Finnis {{!}} Four Duets|url=https://www.rhinegold.co.uk/8-21-december-2012-2/|access-date=2020-07-26|website=Rhinegold|language=en}}</ref>
⚫
On 3 July 2008 he played in Liverpool as the solo clarinetist for the premiere of Emily Howard's ''Liverpool, The World in One City'' along with the Liverpool Youth Orchestra and 500 primary school children.<ref>{{cite web|title=BBC - Liverpool - Capital of Culture - Capital of Culture Mark was commissioned to write a piece for the Last Night of the Proms. sparks will be performed at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 8 September 2012. Events|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2006/11/06/capital_culture_launch_listings_nov06_feature.shtml}}</ref>


== Career as composer ==
⚫
In 2014 he was awarded one of the five [[Sky Academy Arts Scholarship]], which during the scholarship he wrote his work ''The Immortal'' which was awarded the Classical Award at the [[South Bank Sky Arts Award]] in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/showbiz-news/liverpool-mark-simpson-sky-arts-11431668|title=Liverpool composer Mark Simpson wins a prestigious Sky Arts Award | newspaper=[[Liverpool Echo]] |author=Catherine Jones | date= 6 June 2016|accessdate=3 November 2018}}</ref>
Simpson has cited a number of composers as influences on his work, including [[György Ligeti]], [[Thomas Adès]], Julian Anderson, [[Mark-Anthony Turnage]], John Adams, [[Helmut Lachenmann]], [[Cornelius Cardew]], [[Pierre Boulez]], [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]] and [[Luigi Nono]].

He has also drawn inspiration from painting and poetry, in works such as ''Ariel'' (2009), which was based on the [[Sylvia Plath]] [[Ariel (poem)|poem of the same name]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mark Simpson - Ariel|url=https://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Mark-Simpson-Ariel/55962|access-date=2020-07-26|website=www.boosey.com}}</ref> and a ''A mirror fragment…'' (2008), which was based on a poem by Melanie Challenger.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bachtrack Composers Project: Mark Simpson (b.1988)|url=https://bachtrack.com/interview-mark-simpson|access-date=2020-07-26|website=bachtrack.com|language=en}}</ref>

⚫
Early works by SImpson include the ensemble piece ''It Was As if the Earth Stood Still'' (2005), which was broadcast on [[BBC Radio 3]]'s "Hear and Now" in November 2005,<ref>{{cite web|date=2005-11-05|title=Ensemble 10/10 Program Listings on Hear and Now|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/hearandnow/pip/pib6y/|accessdate=2008-01-19|publisher=BBC Radio 3}}</ref> and ''Lov(escape)'' for clarinet and piano, which Simpson performed himself in the finalists' concert of the BBC Young Musician competition in September 2006.<ref>{{cite web|date=2006-09-14|title=Wigmore Hall Series of Young Musician Finalists: Mark Simpson|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/youngmusician/competition/wigmore_mark.shtml|accessdate=2008-01-19|publisher=BBC Radio 3}}</ref>

Simpson's first orchestral commission was ''Threads for Orchestra, ''for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, which premièred at The Sage Gateshead on 1 April 2008.

⚫
In 2014 he was awarded one of five [[Sky Academy Arts Scholarship|Sky Academy Arts Scholarships]], during which he wrote his [[oratorio]] ''The Immortal,'' which was awarded the Classical Award at the [[South Bank Sky Arts Award]] in 2016, following its premiere by the BBC Philharmonic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/showbiz-news/liverpool-mark-simpson-sky-arts-11431668|title=Liverpool composer Mark Simpson wins a prestigious Sky Arts Award | newspaper=[[Liverpool Echo]] |author=Catherine Jones | date= 6 June 2016|accessdate=3 November 2018}}</ref> In 2015 he was appointed as the BBC Philharmonic's Composer in Association.<ref>{{cite news|date=26 February 2015|title=Mark Simpson named as the BBC Philharmonic's new Composer in Association|work=[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]|url=http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/mark-simpson-named-as-the-bbc-philharmonics-new-composer-in-association}}</ref>

Other significant works include ''Israfel'' (2015), premiered by the [[BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-05-06|title=Mark Simpson – Israfel (World Première)|url=http://5against4.com/2015/05/06/mark-simpson-israfel-world-premiere/|access-date=2020-07-26|website=5:4|language=en-GB}}</ref> and ''sparks'', which was commissioned for the 2012 Last Night of the Proms.<ref name=":0" />

Simpson's first opera ''Pleasure'' was commissioned by [[Opera North]], the [[Royal Opera House|Royal Opera]] and Aldeburgh Music and premiered in 2016. Its plot concerns a woman, Val, who works as a toilet attendant in a gay nightclub.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Simpson|first=Mark|date=2016-04-28|title=Welcome to the Pleasuredome … Mark Simpson's opera debut|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/28/pleasure-mark-simpson-debut-opera-north-diary|access-date=2020-07-26|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> The cast of the first production included [[soprano]] [[Lesley Garrett]] as Val and baritone Steven Page as Anna Fewmore, an ageing [[drag queen]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-05-01|title=Pleasure; Tannhäuser – review|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/01/pleasure-hayward-assembly-leeds-tannhauser-roh-review|access-date=2020-07-26|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 15:48, 26 July 2020

Mark Simpson
Born (1988-09-26) 26 September 1988 (age 35)
Liverpool, England
GenresClassical
OccupationComposer
InstrumentClarinet
Years active2005–present
Websitemarksimpsonmusic.com

Mark Simpson (born 26 September 1988) is a British composer and clarinettist from Liverpool. In 2006, he became notable for winning both the BBC Young Musician of the Year (as clarinettist) and the BBC Proms/Guardian Young Composer of the Year, making him the first and, to date, only person to win both competitions.[1]

Education

Simpson attended King David High School, Liverpool and attended the Royal Northern College of Music junior department where he studied clarinet with Nicholas Cox[2] and composition with Gary Carpenter.[3] After a term at the Royal College of Music, Simpson attended St. Catherine's College, Oxford University, reading for a BA in Music from 2008–2011. He also studied composition with Julian Anderson at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and studied clarinet privately with Mark van de Wiel.[4]

Career as clarinettist

While at school, Simpson was principal clarinet in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.[3] He won the BBC Young Musician of the Year title on 20 May 2006, playing Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto with the Northern Sinfonia, conducted by Yan Pascal Tortelier at The Sage Gateshead.

The following year, he performed at the Last Night of the Proms in Hyde Park, London, performing Artie Shaw's Concerto for Clarinet.[5] On 3 July 2008 he played in Liverpool as the solo clarinettist for the premiere of Emily Howard's Liverpool, The World in One City along with the Liverpool Youth Orchestra and five hundred primary school children.[6]

Other notable concerto performances include Magnus Lindberg's Clarinet Concerto at the 2018 Proms with the BBC Philharmonic,[7] John Adams’s Gnarly Buttons with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and appearances with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia City of London Sinfonia and BBC Concert Orchestra.[1]

Simpson has also commissioned and premiered new works including Simon Holt's Joy Beast (2017), a concerto for basset clarinet[8] and Edmund Finnis' Four Duets (2012) for clarinet and piano.[9]

Career as composer

Simpson has cited a number of composers as influences on his work, including György Ligeti, Thomas Adès, Julian Anderson, Mark-Anthony Turnage, John Adams, Helmut Lachenmann, Cornelius Cardew, Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Luigi Nono.

He has also drawn inspiration from painting and poetry, in works such as Ariel (2009), which was based on the Sylvia Plath poem of the same name,[10] and a A mirror fragment… (2008), which was based on a poem by Melanie Challenger.[11]

Early works by SImpson include the ensemble piece It Was As if the Earth Stood Still (2005), which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3's "Hear and Now" in November 2005,[12] and Lov(escape) for clarinet and piano, which Simpson performed himself in the finalists' concert of the BBC Young Musician competition in September 2006.[13]

Simpson's first orchestral commission was Threads for Orchestra, for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, which premièred at The Sage Gateshead on 1 April 2008.

In 2014 he was awarded one of five Sky Academy Arts Scholarships, during which he wrote his oratorio The Immortal, which was awarded the Classical Award at the South Bank Sky Arts Award in 2016, following its premiere by the BBC Philharmonic.[14] In 2015 he was appointed as the BBC Philharmonic's Composer in Association.[15]

Other significant works include Israfel (2015), premiered by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra,[16] and sparks, which was commissioned for the 2012 Last Night of the Proms.[1]

Simpson's first opera Pleasure was commissioned by Opera North, the Royal Opera and Aldeburgh Music and premiered in 2016. Its plot concerns a woman, Val, who works as a toilet attendant in a gay nightclub.[17] The cast of the first production included soprano Lesley Garrett as Val and baritone Steven Page as Anna Fewmore, an ageing drag queen.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Mark Simpson: Biography". www.boosey.com. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Mark Simpson interview: Liverpool-born classical composer | Your Move". YM Liverpool. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Mark Simpson, BBC Young Musician of the Year 2006". congletonchoralsociety.org.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Bachtrack Composers Project: Mark Simpson (b.1988)". bachtrack.com. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  5. ^ "BBC - Proms - Proms in the Park - London".
  6. ^ "BBC - Liverpool - Capital of Culture - Capital of Culture Mark was commissioned to write a piece for the Last Night of the Proms. sparks will be performed at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 8 September 2012. Events".
  7. ^ "Prom 4: Mark Simpson impresses in Lindberg's Clarinet Concerto". bachtrack.com. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Simon Holt & BBC Philharmonic: Joy Beast". BBC Music Events. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Edmund Finnis | Four Duets". Rhinegold. 1 December 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Mark Simpson - Ariel". www.boosey.com. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Bachtrack Composers Project: Mark Simpson (b.1988)". bachtrack.com. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  12. ^ "Ensemble 10/10 Program Listings on Hear and Now". BBC Radio 3. 5 November 2005. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
  13. ^ "Wigmore Hall Series of Young Musician Finalists: Mark Simpson". BBC Radio 3. 14 September 2006. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
  14. ^ Catherine Jones (6 June 2016). "Liverpool composer Mark Simpson wins a prestigious Sky Arts Award". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  15. ^ "Mark Simpson named as the BBC Philharmonic's new Composer in Association". Gramophone. 26 February 2015.
  16. ^ "Mark Simpson – Israfel (World Première)". 5:4. 6 May 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  17. ^ Simpson, Mark (28 April 2016). "Welcome to the Pleasuredome … Mark Simpson's opera debut". the Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  18. ^ "Pleasure; Tannhäuser – review". the Guardian. 1 May 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2020.


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