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Last updated 27th March 2023
Biography
Philip Thomas is Professor in Performance, having joined the University of Huddersfield in 2005. He specialises in performing and writing about new and experimental music, including both notated and improvised music. He places much emphasis on each concert being a unique event, designing imaginative programmes that provoke and suggest connections.
He is particularly drawn to the experimental music of John Cage, Morton Feldman and Christian Wolff, and composers who broadly work within a post-Cageian aesthetic. In recent years he has been particularly associated with the music of Christian Wolff, performing and recording the solo piano music, and co-editing a book about his music. He has commissioned new works from a number of British composers whose ideas, language and aesthetic have been informed in some ways by the aforementioned American composers, such as Stephen Chase, Laurence Crane, Richard Emsley, Michael Finnissy, Christopher Fox, Bryn Harrison, John Lely, Tim Parkinson, Michael Parsons, James Saunders, Howard Skempton and Markus Trunk. Additionally, Philip’s work has focussed upon a number of Canadian composers, including Martin Arnold, Cassandra Miller and Linda Smith, and he has been associated with a number of composers from the Wandelweiser collective, most notably Jürg Frey. Solo recordings include releases on ‘another timbre’, ‘HatHut’, ‘Huddersfield Contemporary Records’, ‘Bruce’s Fingers’, ‘Edition Wandelweiser’ and ‘sub rosa’, featuring music by Laurence Crane, Michael Finnissy, Christopher Fox, Jürg Frey, Richard Glover, Bryn Harrison, Tim Parkinson, Michael Pisaro, James Saunders and Christian Wolff.
Alongside the music cited above, Philip pursues a passion for freely improvised music, after significant encounters with the music of AMM and Sheffield-based musicians Martin Archer, Mick Beck and John Jasnoch. He has worked with improvisers in a variety of contexts and recently devised a programme of composed music by musicians more normally known as improvisers as well as others who have been influenced by improvisation in some form. This led to a CD release, ‘Comprovisation’, which featured newly commissioned works by Mick Beck, Chris Burn and Simon H Fell.
Research Expertise and Interests
- Music
- Performance
- Experimental Music
- Improvisation
- John Cage
- Christian Wolff
- Morton Feldman
- indeterminacy
- piano
- Music associated with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company
- Recent Canadian experimental music
- Music by British composers, including Laurence Crane, Michael Finnissy, Christopher Fox, Bryn Harrison, Michael Parsons, James Saunders
- Music of John Cage, Christian Wolff and Morton Feldman
- Recent experimental music from the USA and UK
- Music associated with the ‘Wandelweiser’ collective
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Network
Projects
- 1 Finished
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John Cage and the 'Concert for piano and orchestra'
Thomas, P. & Iddon, M.
1/10/15 → 29/10/18
Project: Research
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Introduction: Performing Indeterminacy
Iddon, M., Payne, E. & Thomas, P., 1 Jul 2022, In: Contemporary Music Review. 41, 2-3, p. 127-129 3 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
Open Access -
Ensemble interaction in indeterminate music: A case study of Christian Wolff’s Exercises
Payne, E. & Thomas, P., 4 Nov 2021, Together In Music: Coordination, expression, participation. Timmers, R., Bailes, F. & Daffern, H. (eds.). Oxford University Press, p. 148-154 7 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
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Getting Exercised: Ensemble Relations in Christian Wolff's Exercises
Payne, E. & Thomas, P., 3 Nov 2020, Finding Democracy in Music. Adlington, R. & Buch, E. (eds.). 1st ed. Routledge, p. 101-124 24 p. (Musical Cultures of the Twentieth Century).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
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John Cage's Concert for Piano and Orchestra
Iddon, M. & Thomas, P., 24 Jul 2020, Oxford University Press. 480 p. (Studies in Musical Genesis, Sketches and Interpretation)Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
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“We also like to be surprised”: Disruption, provocation and surprise in the music of Christian Wolff
Thomas, P. & Payne, E., 15 Sep 2020, In: Circuit. 30, 2, p. 27-45 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Datasets
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John Cage and the Concert for Piano and Orchestra web apps
Thomas, P. (Creator), Melen, C. (Creator), Iddon, M. (Contributor) & Payne, E. (Contributor), University of Huddersfield, 8 Aug 2019
Dataset
Activities
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6th International Performance Studies Network Conference 2022
Philip Thomas (Organiser), David Milsom (Member of programme committee), Emily Worthington (Member of programme committee) & Jan Herbst (Member of programme committee)
2 Jul 2020 → Mar 2022Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Organising a conference, workshop, ...
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Morton Feldman - Music for Dance and Film
Philip Thomas (Participant) & Hilary Elliott (Participant)
18 Nov 2019Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participating in a conference, workshop, ...
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Apartment House - Disappearing Music
Philip Thomas (Participant)
16 Oct 2019Activity: Other activity types › Other
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External Examiner (PhD) at University of Cambridge
Philip Thomas (Examiner)
19 Sep 2019Activity: Examination types › PhD Examination
Press/Media
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Morton Feldman: Piano review – connecting the dots on a modern master
11/10/19
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
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