Event details
Composition Colloquium with Matthew Shlomowitz
The Composition Colloquium presents a talk by Matthew Shlomowitz.
Abstract
Title: The case for neo-classicism
In this talk, I summarize my paper, “Now Is Not the Time for Neo-Classicism: The Case for Neo-Classicism” (abstract follows). I discuss how the ideas in the paper connect to my recent pieces and argue for their broader relevance in contemporary composition.
Neoclassicism is now largely eschewed within New Music. While there seems space in our pluralistic scene for modernist, postmodernist, minimalist, performative and conceptual music, the compositional values of neoclassicism seem out of step and anachronistic. This article advocates that classical principles should be put back on the table, arguing not for a return to a historical neoclassicism but rather for idiosyncratic forms of neoclassicism that emphasise characteristics such as entertainment, playfulness, clarity, forms of tonality and engagement with received form.
About
Matthew Shlomowitz is a London-based composer raised in Adelaide, Australia. Recent works include Minor Characters, a one-hour music theatre piece co-composed with Jennifer Walshe for Ensemble Nikel; Six Scenes for Turntables and Orchestra, co-composed with Mariam Rezaei; and The Big Idea, a one-hour monodrama with a libretto by Vid Simoniti for mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean and Rubiks Collective. Winner of the Johann Joseph Fux Opera Composition Award, his opera Electric Dreams was staged at the 2017 ORF Musikprotokoll, with a second production in 2023 at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. His album Explorations in Polytonality and Other Musical Wonders, Volumes 2 and 4 was released on Carrier Records in 2024. Shlomowitz writes on music and aesthetic issues; his two most recent papers, both published in Tempo, are “It’s Not About You: Do We Still Need an ‘Artistic Voice’?” and “Now Is Not the Time for Neo-Classicism: The Case for Neo-Classicism.” He co-directs Plus Minus Ensemble and the Soundmaking podcast. Shlomowitz is Professor of Composition at the University of Southampton, and has served on the faculty of the 2023 Darmstadt Summer Courses and the 2025 Impuls Academy in Graz.
Ticketing
Free, Unticketed
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