Lachlan Skipworth : Represented Artist
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Random Audio Sample: dark nebulae : for saxophone quartet by Lachlan Skipworth, from the CD Current |
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Photo: Tallulah Chong
Artist website: http://www.lachlanskipworth.com/
The music of Australian composer Lachlan Skipworth has been
described by Limelight magazine as featuring 'bold,
innovative textures, and compelling melody'. His vivid musical
language communicates a unique personal voice across orchestral,
chamber, vocal and experimental music, and is coloured by three
years spent in Japan, where his immersion in the study of the
shakuhachi bamboo flute inevitably became a part of his muse. His
compositions display a craft grounded upon the sensitive
assimilation of musical sources, a rare technical skill in sonic
construction, and a highly imaginative deployment of ideas. It is
therefore no surprise that he is at the forefront of his
generation of Australian composers.
Winning the prestigious Paul Lowin Prize for orchestral
composition in 2016 established Skipworth's reputation, and is a
significant marker of the broader industry recognition of his
talent. The winning work, his Concerto for Clarinet and
Orchestra, also earned the Performance of the Year APRA Art Music
Award for its premiere performance by the West Australian
Symphony Orchestra, and was chosen by ABC Classic FM to be
presented at the 2016 International Rostrum of Composers in
Poland.
Skipworth's works attract further international attention on a
regular basis. Spiritus won the 2017 Albert H Maggs
award and was also selected by the New England Philharmonic from
over 200 submissions as the winner of their annual call for
scores for performance in 2018. The International Society for
Contemporary Music selected his Dark Nebulae and
Clarinet Quintet as the official Australian work presented at
their World Music Days in Slovenia (2015) and Vancouver (2017)
respectively. In 2017, the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus commissioned
his Hymns in Reverie for performance at the Dai-Ichi
Seimei Hall. His latest work Breath of Thunder for the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Japanese drumming group Taikoz is a
culmination of his time spent in Japan learning shakuhachi and
developing his deep understanding of its ancient musical
culture.
Skipworth holds degrees from the University of Western Australia
(B.Mus.Ed) and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (M.Mus., Ph.D.)
where he studied with composers Roger Smalley and Anne Boyd
respectively. Further afield, he spent two semesters in Germany
undertaking a kontaktstudium at the Freiburg Hochschule fur Musik
with leading international composer and clarinettist Prof. Jorg
Widmann. Skipworth's main shakuhachi teachers are the revered
masters Kakizakai Kaoru and Yokoyama Katsuya.
Lachlan Skipworth — current to September 2018
Collaborated with
Louise Devenish (1999 - current)
Bronwyn Kirkpatrick (2008 - current)
Sydney Symphony Fellowship (2009 - 2011)
Ashley Smith (2010 - current)
West Australian Symphony Orchestra (2012 - current)
Chris Dragon (2014 - current)
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (2014)
Emily Green-Armytage (2015 - current)
Musica Viva Australia (2015 - current)
TaikOz (2017 - 2018)
Sydney Symphony Orchestra (2018)
Studied with
Roger Smalley (2003 - 2005)
Iain Grandage (2004)
Riley Lee (2004 - current)
Anne Boyd (2008 - 2016)
Jörg Widmann (2010 - 2011)
Teacher/Influence on
Awards & Prizes
Year | Award | Placing | Awarded for |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Art Music Awards: Work of the Year: Chamber Music | Winner | Pine Chant |
2019 | Paul Lowin Orchestral Prize | Highly Commended | Spiritus |
2018 | Art Music Awards: Work of the Year: Orchestral | Finalist | Spiritus |
2017 | Albert H Maggs Composition Award | First Prize | Spiritus |
2016 | Paul Lowin Orchestral Prize | Winner | Concerto for clarinet and orchestra |
2015 | Art Music Awards: Work of the Year: Orchestral | Finalist | Concerto for clarinet and orchestra |
2013 | Art Music Awards: Work of the Year: Instrumental | Finalist | dark nebulae |
Selected Commissions
Work | Commission Details | |
---|---|---|
The Tides of Longing (multiple choirs with orchestra) (2023) | The Tides of Longing commissioned for WASO by Geoff Stearn & a private Song Book supporter. | |
Altiora Peto : for trumpet and strings (piano reduction) (2021) | Commissioned by Tony Lennon for the occasion of his 80th Birthday, and named Altiora Peto after the motto of the St Louis School, Claremont, of which Tony is an alumni. | |
Fanfara : for orchestra (2021) | This work, written by Lachlan Skipworth, was made possible through the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s 50 Fanfares Project | |
Sonata : for flute and piano (2020) | Commissioned with support from Creative Partnerships Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund. With thanks to Geoff Stearn. | |
Oboe quartet : for oboe, piano, violin, cello (2020) | Commissioned for Musica Viva Australia in memory of Anne and Alan Blanckensee, by their son Andrew, family and friends. | |
Yuwani : for lambirlpil, voice and large orchestra (2019) | Commissioned by Darwin Symphony Orchestra. |