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NEWS ARCHIVE
Partnership
with Fudge Animation
01/02/17
Fudge Animation have offices in London and Sandhurst. Most of their work is commercial animation but they are about to expand the development of their own animated series and properties. In the past, most of their music has come from production libraries, but we are now planning to work closely together to enable them to offer bespoke music for as many of their productions as possible. I am very impressed by Dan Weaver, James Hill and the whole team. Watch this space!
Guardians
of the Galaxy Vol.2
21/01/17
Recording Session
for Thameside Cycle
20/12/16
Ben Alden, tenor soloist from St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle was joined by pianist, Sally Goodworth playing on a Yamaha CFX concert grand piano. They recorded my recently commissioned song cycle, inspired by the river Thames with lyrics by Patricia Beall-Gavigan. It has its challenging moments, but they created an expressive and powerful performance. The recording will be available soon.
Bok Publishing - Finalist in SwissInnovation challenge
05/09/16
Sound design and music completed for Fleetmatics commercial projects
01/08/16
Nick Hill, creative director at No Magnolia approached me to create the sound design and music for two fun 3D animated films for applied technology client, Fleetmatics. The final edit was provided with no sound and everything you hear on the finished film was sourced, recorded and mixed here at Clear Sky Studio. No Magnolia then produced a fascinating overview of the whole creative process.
Clear Sky Studio - launch of new studio web site and blog
24/03/16
Flying visit to Los Angeles
14/02/16
Wonderful summer weather, generous hospitality from Frank and Leigh Rautenbach (including car), and great times with composer, Tim Williams, sound engineer, Tim Jaquette, Bart and Patricia Gavigan, Gregg Helvey and Kevin O’Neill.
First performance of 'I Know A Bank Where The Wild Thyme Blows'
06/12/15
First performance of composition commission - 'Thameside Cycle'
14/11/15
Another collaboration with lyricist, Patricia Beall Gavigan and a set of three songs inspired by the River Thames written for tenor voice and piano. The first performance was at a private concert in the home of Lord and Lady Phillimore, Coppid Hall in Binfield Heath. The war poet, Wilfred Owen lived in nearby Dunsden from 1911 to 1913, and the concert was organised by the Dunsden Owen Association. What a rich evening, with a combination of live music, art films, readings and storytelling. For more details, here is the review.
Studio complete
04/08/15
First gathering of BoK Publishing creative team
22/10/15
A new and exciting startup project with some very talented people. Ollie Adkins - CEO, Lee Squires - scriptwriter, and Amy Squires - illustrator with me on sound design and music. We met up at Stour Space Studios - my first time in the area developed for the 2012 London Olympics - lots of creative people working here, a great cafe, and a great buzz!
Site ready for new recording studio
16/02/15
Oscar long list nomination for 'Walking with the Enemy'
12/12/14
Huge congratulations to Tim Williams for achieving this! I have great memories of working on this with Tim conducting and Andrew Dudman engineering - a great team!
Launch event
15/10/14
Composition commission and recording
25/08/14
Recording session in London for the St. Teresa of Avila fifth centenary CD. The venue, St. John the Evangelist, Upper Norwood is very popular for classical recordings, and just around the corner from my family home. The professional singers comprising The Choir of the Carmelite Priory, Kensington (dir. Simon Lloyd) and organist, Robert Patterson sounded wonderful (despite the heavy rain outside), especially as we were recording in surround sound. My music, The Carmelite Blessing, and various sung responses went really well too.
Guardians of the Galaxy
27/04/14
Another visit to Abbey Road Studios, this time sitting in on film scoring session for 'Guardians of the Galaxy' with Tyler Bates and Tim Williams – such great music, and some very moving scenes.
Eagle Mountain by Robert Steven Hunt launched
03/03/14
I met Robert at an Arts Collective event in Reading a while ago, and subsequently he started an online presence for his compositions. He is currently Number 1 on the ReverbNation National UK Classical Charts and Number 15 on the World/Global Classical Charts. I have been producing and orchestrating his first album, and it has now been released online with cdbaby and CDs are being manufactured shortly too.
Ruckus wins BFI Future Film award for animation
04/08/15
BAFTA nomination (long list) for Ruckus
28/11/13
Ruckus wins BFI Future Film award for animation 23/2/2014
An outstanding achievement for the whole team. As a bonus, Ruckus finally goes public on the internet too. You can view it here: www.ruckusanimation.com
It was a wonderful surprise to realise that animated short, "Ruckus" had been nominated for a BAFTA in the animated short category. That the animation team had produced this while still students was a phenomenal achievement given the competition, and although it didn't make it to the short list, we were all thrilled nevertheless.
BAFTA Conversation with Dario Marianelli, Royal Albert Hall
25/11/2013
Abbey Road Sessions
15/09/13
I had three days working in Studio 1 with the Abbey Road team and 75 of the finest orchestral musicians in the world recording the soundtrack for "Walking with the enemy" featuring Ben Kingsley. Hollywood composer Timothy Williams was conducting his own score and asked me to be score supervisor and direct the sessions along with the chief Abbey Road engineer. Everything about the experience was superlative, and everyone so easy to work with. At the end of the project, the Abbey Road guys commented - a session doesn't get any slicker than that - we got through a huge amount of material in the time.
Screening of Ruckus, The Moving Picture Company, Soho
18/07/13
BAFTA Masterclass with Gabriel Yared
26/06/13
Famous for his collaborations with Anthony Minghella, this was a truly inspiring evening. Gabriel has a no compromise attitude to his composing and looks to past classical masters such as Bach for his inspiration as well as being a great believer in the spiritual dimension of music and creativity. I also loved the window into his close friendship working relationship with Minghella, and the value of the composer being involved right from the start of a project.
www.gabrielyared.com
"Enough Food If" Campaign
25/01/13
Musicians from Leighton Park School performed the premier of "Jubilee Shout" for brass and percussion which I wrote specially for the regional launch of the "Enough Food If" campaign. I was interviewed about the piece for the press release on the day:
"Jubilee Shout" - my understanding of Jubilee is this idea that we have to be careful about thinking that things belong to us too tightly, and that we should be more careful to think about one another. And so a shout is to say well let's share that principle, let's share what we have.
And then the Latin American thing - you know some years ago I did go to Brazil, and that left its mark on me. So this sort of Latin American summery, fiesta feel seemed like a good idea to combine with this jubilee idea ... and also in the middle of a cold, grey day!
Counterpoint
15/01/13
BAFTA Masterclass
11/01/13
Nativity Blessing
23/12/12
As Joseph was a walking
09/12/12
Bringing music to poetry
01/12/12
Magic of the Berbers
23/10/12
Abbey Road Studios
18/08/12
Brass session recording
09/07/12
Composition for new stage piece
26/06/12
Planning permission granted
01/05/12
Exciting new live show
09/01/12
Potential new feature film project
12/12/11
Producer, Richard Pim has teamed up with director, Robin Swailes and Oxford-based production company, The Film And Video Company to create a prologue version of the feature film, "The Blue Havana Club". I am delighted to have been asked to create some musical ideas for the opening credits and other cues. Watch this space!
Expanded Sample Library
03/10/11
Our Country's Good
14/09/11
I have agreed to write incidental music for this challenging play. Set in Australia in 1789, it tells the story of a group of men and women, deported from Britain for sometimes small crimes, and having to endure a harsh military regime. They find a degree of redemption in the staging of a play, and the conclusion is optimistic and even triumphant.
Because of its huge significance at the time (Mozart was writing his finest piano concertos in Vienna), I have decided to feature the piano. I was also inspired by the ideas expressed in the film, "The Piano", with music by Michael Nyman, which is set in New Zealand in the mid 1800s.
It is an honour for me to work with Director, Geraint Thomas, and the highly-regarded drama department at Leighton Park School. Although this play is well known in the profession, and is an A level set work, this is a rare opportunity to see the play live.
L.A. Trip went beyond expectations
06/08/11
I have now returned from L.A. with many wonderful memories. I spent time with three different film composers (Jonathan David Neal, Timothy Williams and Kevin Doucette; sat in on a recording session for Disney at Igloo Music; received great input from Tim Jaquette at Citrus College; had some great advice and encouragement from designer, Kevin O'Neill.
The Hollywood Bowl rehearsal and gig (Journey to India) with A.R. Rahman was a great highlight. Matt Dunkley did an impressive job conducting the L.A. Philharmonic, I got to meet the senior sound engineer, Fred Vogler, and even helped out running the pro-tools rig at the rehearsal!
My hosts, Etienne Van Straaten (Culver City) and the Potter family (Pasadena) were so kind to me, creating a strong sense of a home from home.
There was such a strong sense of momentum while I was there, that I am now considering when to book a return trip!
Surround system installed
30/06/11
I wish you could sit here and listen to this. My new, made-in-Finland Genelec 8030s with sub 6.1 surround system is now up and running. Although much of my work is in stereo, I believe it is critical to have the surround sound as your reference point while composing. I am also really pleased with the Danish-made t.c.electronic studiokonnekt 48 which controls the whole system via ethernet remote controller. Aren't those Scandinavians clever (I am a quarter Norwegian - if only it were more)!
The Film-maker's Son
28/06/11
Having completed sound mixing at Pinewood Studios with Gemma Nicholson, final post process has now concluded in Soho, London. What a treat it was for me to spend a couple of days at Pinewood soaking up 'the vibe' and meeting some wonderful people.
Music Box Studio
25/06/11
Trip to L.A. July 2011 including A.R. Rahman at the Hollywood Bowl
15/06/11
I depart from London Heathrow on Sunday 3rd July for two weeks. I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to spend time with some top people including: Tim Jaquette (manager of the amazing Citrus Recording Studios); Timothy Williams (composer); Jonathan David Neal (composer and Society of Composers and Lyricist board member); Kevin O'Neal (designer and producer).
Little did I know that while I am there, my friend from school days, Matt Dunkley will be in town. He is a very successful film orchestrator and will be conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra with oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman at the Hollywood Bowl. The programme, 'Journey to India' has an extra resonance for me as my Dad was born in India. I can't wait!
Past students
12/06/11
I am privileged to spend some of my time educating the next generation (especially at Leighton Park School) and it is a great thrill to witness the success of people I have helped at some point in their journey. The brilliant Laura Marling recently added to the achievement of her striking album 'I Speak Because I Can' by winning the Brit Award for Best British Female. Her new album is due out in September. Young composer, Mike MacLennan although still a composition undergraduate at Trinity College of Music has written for BBC Radio drama and is now writing underscore for the audiobook version of Dark Shadows. Rowan Perkins is flexing his muscles as a producer with East Park Reggae Collective and in his alternative identity - Debian-Blak. Last, but not least, Eliza Bennett has excelled as a film actress, playing leading roles (including Meggie Folchart in Inkheart).
The Arts Collective
10/06/11
Founded in March 2010, we makes space for creative people to meet and talk, to explore what it means to be an artist in our day, to reflect on ideas and listen to each others' stories. About 200 people are either on the mailing list or members of the facebook group The Arts Collective. We are very diverse, in age, background and in expression - poets, composers, animators, musicians, writers, actors, song writers, photographers etc. Every two months, we take over a coffee shop for an evening, and enjoy great coffee and cakes, chat and inspiration.
Torbjörn Hultmark
09/06/11
