Chris Petrie
Chris Petrie has lived in Monmouth, South Wales for the majority of his life. He received his musical education on the clarinet, theory and composition from his mother, a music teacher and the vibrant and award winning Gwent Music Support Service. Chris went to Cardiff to study his first degree at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) in 2005. At the RWCMD Chris studied composition of music under Peter Reynolds and Timothy Raymond. He had his music performed and/or recorded by ensembles including the BBC NOW, the Millennium Ensemble, the Manson Ensemble and the Southbank Sinfonia over his Degree course. During his time at the RWCMD Chris received additional tuition from Robert Spearing, Lynne Plowman and John Metcalf (at Aberfest), and was given an award from the principal for achieving the highest mark of the department in his final year.
After graduating from the RWCMD in 2009 Chris started a Masters Degree on the prestigious composition course at the Royal Academy of Music studying with prof. Simon Bainbridge as well as receiving further personal tuition from Philip Cashian, Christopher Austin and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Whilst at the RAM Chris has had Percolation for large orchestra premiered and recorded at the BBC Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff and has had an animated film premiered after collaborating with animators from the University of West England.
Chris has also taught music for seven years and after studying with David Knotts, he will soon be awarded a Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music teaching diploma. Teaching experience ranges from weekly group and individual tuition to intensive courses. Chris recently taught on the Handel House Museum Summer School 2010 which was a composition course for blind and partially-sighted young people. This was run in conjunction with the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB).
Chris’s music has been performed by professional, amateur and youth groups in all over Wales, England and Poland. In 2010, premieres and recordings have been made by ensembles such as the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Wales and the London Sinfonietta. Chris was also recently commissioned by Gwent Music Support Service to write new piece for mass children’s choir (400 singers) and mass orchestra (300 musicians) for his debut at the Royal Albert Hall in November 2010. This 10 minute set of songs, with a text written by Francesca Kay, will be performed as part of the School’s Proms which is run by Music for Youth. There will also be a second performance of this new work in 2011 that will take place in St. Davids Hall, Cardiff.
The first commercially released recording of Chris’s music will be released in November 2010. Following a commission from the Lunar Saxophone Quartet (http://www.lunarsax.co.uk) , this new work called Caneuon Cymru will be released on disc of new Welsh music on the Signum Classics label (http://www.signumrecords.com/index.shtml). The CD will be called These Visions and will be accompanied by a 20-date UK tour.
Upcoming concerts:
Caneuon Cymru:
“The composer has spoken of the music as "exploring" his Welshness and the underlying contradictions that such a label currently suggests for him. Born in Essex, but spending his childhood and teenage years in the Welsh bordertown, Monmouth, before undertaking formal music studies in the Principality's capital, Petrie now lives and works in London. Without the outward archetypal "trappings" of Welshness, where does he now stand in relation to such questions of national identity and, indeed, is it even relevant? What is the nature of his (and other's) inclusion in a disc of "Welsh music"? Caneuon Cymru does not seek to answer such questions and, still less, to present its underlying thematic material in a self-consciously Welsh guise, and therein lies the basic question that the music poses.” (taken from the CD’s sleeve note, written by Peter Reynolds)
9th November 2010
7.30pm @ Lampeter Music Club (Lampeter University) (‘These Visions’ tour)
11th November 2010
7.30pm @ Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester (‘These Visions’ tour)
12th November 2010
7.30pm @ Ucheldre Centre, Holyhead (‘These Visions’ tour)
13th November 2010
7.30pm @ Y Tabernacl, Machynlleth (‘These Visions’ tour)
25th November 2010
7.30pm @ The Forge, Camden, London (‘These Visions’ English Album launch)
25th January 2011
1pm @ St. Donats, Vale of Glamorgan (‘These Visions’ Tour)
There will be more performances of this tour to be confirmed.
This Is Our Land:
Over 400 singers. Over 300 musicians. For 1 night only at the Royal Albert Hall (RAH). This colossal composition, which uses the whole space of the RAH, will explode the RAH. To book tickets, please visit: http://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/school-proms/default.aspx
10th November 2010
7pm @ Royal Albert Hall
*New Work*:
Following a RAM commission, the Manson Ensemble will perform a new composition that I am currently writing for Percussion, Piano, Violin, Viola and 'Cello. More information to follow…:
"The Royal Academy of Music Manson Ensemble return to the Louise Blouin Foundation with a programme of American Experimentalism. Major figures such as John Cage and Morton Feldman were heavily influenced by the arts scene of New York in the mid-twentieth century. Tonight's programme presents classic works from that period alongside new works by Academy composers.” Please visit http://www.ltbfoundation.org/foundation/events.htm for more information.
7th October
7pm @ Louise Blouin Foundation, 3 Olaf Street, London, W11 4BE