I3 Project Launched at The Sage Gateshead
Music student, Sergio Camacho, has had one of his own compositions played by the Northern Sinfonia at The Sage Gateshead in the first of a new series of concerts entitled 'Composers of the North East'.
Sergio and Durham University student, Alex Nutton, were the first student composers to be involved in the project, under the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) in Music, which will see up to three concerts a year being performed over the next five years.
Since March, students and performers have been taking part in workshops to develop the compositions and rehearse for the concerts. Each concert will programme their works alongside compositions by their university lecturers, (this time Agustín Fernández and Martyn Harry), and the music of a distinguished guest composer, in this case Peter Wiegold, who also directed the first concert.
Sergio is an accomplished performer of traditional Spanish folk music and has played in more than 40 countries. His latest composition for the concert, and ensemble piece entitled 'Four names for the one moon', and a Spanish opera project on which he is working for his PhD are influenced by folk music and the atmosphere of plays by the Spanish poet Lorca.
Sergio's tutor, Dr Agustin Fernandez, said: 'To hear one's own music performed, to interact with the performers and to embark on a dialogue with the audience through a live performance, all this amounts to a cycle which constitutes the real learning process in musical composition.'
Anthony Brice, Northern Sinfonia Manager at The Sage Gateshead, said: 'It is a real thrill that we can showcase works by locally based student composers alongside that of their Lecturers. To be able to give young composers the opportunity not just to hear their pieces through the workshops, but to be able engage with the musicians is crucial to their development.
