Biographical Info

Gavin’s background and career so far:
I arrived at music relatively late, undertaking a short lived period as a university student of Theoretical Physics during which I spent more than the recommended amount of time in jazz bars and listening to and playing music. Inevitably, I transferred to a music degree and began my journey of musical exploration, encompassing performance, prize winning success, critical acclaim and critical criticism but which is an adventure which continues with the same passion and ceaseless exploration now as on the first day.
My natural curiosity has led me to create an unusual diversity of work, from dance pieces where the dancer wears a brain scanner and the choreography is influenced by the readings, to an opera about a singing horse, to a multi-media immersive performance of music and live video at the train station home of Stephenson’s Rocket. My current focus is to use computer programming to create musical interaction for audiences and performers using numerical data from ecological studies.
I regularly collaborate with other artists, enjoying the team effort, the surprise directions a project may take, and the high quality outcome produced when working with specialists in the field. I also work in partnership with major international organisations such as the BBC Philharmonic orchestra including creating performances in the public spaces of MediaCityUK for the opening of the BBC Studios as well as curating their Ink Still Wet pre-concert series. I have worked with the eu-art-network and Dance Manchester and am currently arts quality assessor for Arts Council England and Fellow in Creative and Professional Practice at the Royal Northern College of Music.

I am committed to opening access to the arts for everyone through my work for the Open College of the Arts, and I have worked on and devised large outreach projects including for the Royal Opera House as well as advocating the arts to local communities as a school governor. As a fellow of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce I promote the arts’ relevance to society in the celebration of difference, the increasing of personal empowerment and in the building communities.

My aim as a composer is to create evocative sounds and unique musical journeys. Making music is a heap of fun, but I also enquire into the world, like a novelist or visual artist would, playing with ideas and proposing narratives through musical expression. Nothing quite replicates the thrill of bringing a piece into existence for an audience, so I maintain regular work as a conductor and pianist working with the likes of Psappha, Manchester Camerata and BBC Philharmonic Ensemble as well as producing live performances through improvised electronics.