Handel House Museum’s Composer-in-Residence scheme is an innovative and forward thinking approach to education and new music at the House.
Since its beginnings in 2006 we have had a pool of highly talented composers to choose from and each has offered us something different. However, we don’t only want composers who can engage with Handel’s music and his house in new and innovative ways we also want excellent educators who can engage with diverse audiences. So far all have met these challenges with great enthusiasm and success.
'Composer in the House' blog
Click here to read about our Composer-in-Residence's experiences working at Handel House.
Stop Press!
See former Composer-in-Residence Kerry Andrew's commission Screech, an interactive webgame where you are the composer!
The current Composer-in-Residence is Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian.
Handel House Museum has appointed Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian as its fifth Composer-in-Residence. Cevanne was selected by distinguished composers Michael Finnissy (Professor of Composition at the University of Southampton) and Robert Saxton (Professor of Composition at the University of Oxford), and Handel House Director Sarah Bardwell. She will begin her residency on 15 October 2012.
Sarah Bardwell says of the post: “We require a huge amount from the composers who work at Handel House, time, energy, commitment, workshop leading skills and musical expertise - yet selecting the composer is an enormous challenge as the calibre of the candidates is incredible. We are delighted and honoured that Cevanne will be creating and making music here at 25 Brook Street.”
The Composer-in-Residence scheme established in 2005 gives a professional composer a two year opportunity to be inspired by Handel’s music, life, and the building in which he lived and composed for 36 years. The scheme places the Composer at the centre of the Museum’s learning programmes, bringing the activity of composition back into Handel’s home and encouraging a wide audience to enjoy and appreciate composition and performance.
Cevanne says of her appointment: “As soon as I heard, I jumped up and down a few times, and then I was inspired to write my first oratorio : 'The Evolution of Eve'. It showcases 9-13 October this year... and I've only just started writing it, with only days to go.”
Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian is a composer, singer, harper and dancer of Anglo- Armenian descent and combines her heritage, surroundings, popular and experimental music as inspiration for her work. A graduate from Cambridge University and Trinity Laban, she has enjoyed writing a diverse array of works which include pieces for choir, orchestra, chamber ensemble, pop, global, film, dance and theatre.
Cevanne was selected for the London Symphony Orchestra’s Panufnik Young Composers Scheme in 2010-2011; and she won a PRSF award to compose a piece for Icelandic and African musicians for Refuge Week 2011, which was broadcast on the BBC World Service and BBC Scotland. In 2010 she was commissioned to write a duet with Goldfrapp’s Ruth Wall by BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction. In 2009 she was nominated for the British Composer Award.
Cevanne co-founded the ‘Out of Neverland’ festival in Thorpeness, Suffolk, to bring exceptional, affordable performances to one of the most isolated areas in the UK. In 2010 she received an Arts Council England award to produce her debut album ‘[Big Ears]’ featuring Zoe Rahman. It premièred at Latitude Festival 2010 and was broadcast by BBC Suffolk Introducing.