Projects per year
Personal profile
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 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
Research Expertise and Interests
- Music
- Performance
- Experimental Music
- Improvisation
- John Cage
- Christian Wolff
- Morton Feldman
- indeterminacy
- piano
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Projects 2015 2018
- 1 Finished
John Cage and the 'Concert for piano and orchestra'
Thomas, P. & Iddon, M.
1/10/15 → 29/10/18
Project: Research
Research Output 2007 2019
Adrián Demoč: Žiadba
Demoč, A., Lukoszevieze, A., Benjamin, M., Roche, H., Thomas, P. & Abbott, C., 22 Nov 2019Research output: Non-textual form › Digital or Visual Products
as if as: Chris Burn & Philip Thomas
Burn, C. & Thomas, P., 1 Sep 2019Research output: Non-textual form › Digital or Visual Products
at143: Messiaen + Linda Catlin Smith
Lukoszevieze, A., Benjamin, M., Roche, H. & Thomas, P., 25 May 2019Research output: Non-textual form › Digital or Visual Products
CageConcert
Thomas, P., Iddon, M., Melen, C. & Payne, E., 18 Nov 2019Research output: Non-textual form › Web publication/site
Morton Feldman - piano
Thomas, P., 12 Sep 2019Research output: Non-textual form › Digital or Visual Products
Activities 2007 2019
Morton Feldman - Music for Dance and Film
Philip Thomas (Participant), Hilary Elliott (Participant)Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participating in a conference, workshop, ...
Apartment House - Disappearing Music
Philip Thomas (Participant)Activity: Other activity types › Other
External Examiner (PhD) at University of Cambridge
Philip Thomas (Examiner)Activity: Examination types › PhD Examination
Christian Marclay 'Investigations'
Philip Thomas (Participant)Activity: Other activity types › Other
Press / Media
Morton Feldman: Piano review – connecting the dots on a modern master
11/10/19
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research