The British/Belgian composer Nigel Clarke grew up in the seaside town of Margate, UK, and though not from a musical background, he developed a lifelong love of music at an early age while learning a brass instrument at school. At 16 he joined the Royal Marines as a junior military bandsman and went on to serve in the Band of the Royal Army Medical Corps and ultimately the Band of the Irish Guards. His desire to write music was encouraged at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall. This led to him studying composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, with Paul Patterson.

During his professional career, Clarke has held posts as Composition and Contemporary Music Tutor at the Royal Academy of Music and Head of Composition at the London College of Music & Media. His many national and international residencies and associations include positions with the Young Concert Artist Trust, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, The Black Dyke Band, Brassband Buizingen, the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, and Middle Tennessee State University. Clarke’s longest musical collaboration has been with violinist Peter Sheppard Skærved and conductor Luc Vertommen.

Clarke is renowned for his virtuosic writing using an uncompromisingly contemporary language which speaks to audiences. He has a penchant for story-telling and his work brims with rhythmic drive and bravura orchestration. It is this language of contrasts and colour, juxtaposing savage musical outbursts with moments of sheer transcendental beauty, that draws audiences into his sound world.

Clarke’s scores include works for symphony orchestra, brass, wind and chamber combinations, and he has also been nominated for his work in film. His compositions are recorded on many prestigious labels and are performed worldwide. Recently Clarke’s The Prophecies of Merlin (symphony for violin and orchestra) was recorded by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony orchestra with Peter Sheppard Skærved as soloist. He lives with his family in Brussels, Belgium, and when not composing he is a keen runner.

nigel-clarke.com

Recordings

Works List:

1. Chinese Puzzleshttps://divineartrecords.com/recording/nigel-clarke-premonitions/
2. Echo and Narcissus
3. Lindisfarne Stone
4. Pernambuco
5. Premonitions
6. Solstice (Graham Caskie)
7. Solstice (Philip Mead)
8. Spectroscope
9. Brueg[h]el’s Brush