Dr Matthew Sergeant
News
Senior lecturer nominated for prestigious Ivors Composer Award
Monday, 28 October, 2019Dr Matthew Sergeant, composer and senior lecturer in composition at Bath Spa University, has been nominated in the “Small Chamber” category of this year’s Ivors Composer Awards.
For 15 years, the Ivors Composer Awards - formerly known as the British Composer Awards - have recognised the creative talent of composers and sound artists to promote the art of composition in contemporary classical, jazz and sound art.
Matthew’s music explores ideas surrounding agency and materiality, sound and bodies. His nominated composition ‘Meeting the Universe Halfway’ was commissioned by The House of Bedlam and was supported by Bath Spa University’s Quality Research Fund, and the Royal Northern College of Music.
The title of Matthew’s unique piece was inspired by a book of the same name by contemporary American philosopher, Karen Barad, and is intended to be played by flute, saxophone, electric guitar, cello, and apparatuses. In fact, central to the piece are three custom-made apparatuses created by Matthew, each made from metal, ceramic or wood, taking the form of a gravity-powered device that personifies a chaotic system.
Matthew said: “I'm really honoured to have been nominated. These are major and prestigious industry awards. Previous winners have been some of the biggest names in UK classical music so I feel really proud to have had my work recognised in this way.
“Sharing my knowledge and experience with my students is really important to me as they often see things in new ways, make new connections between compositions, and provide fresh perspectives. They truly are a community of enquiring minds.”
The Ivors Composer Awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday 4 December at the British Museum, London and are run in conjunction with BBC Radio 3.
You can follow Matthew on Twitter @matthewsergeant and find out more about his projects at www.matthewsergeant.com.