Composition at Cardiff School of Music

08/05/2026

Don't miss the deadline next week for this great opportunity - submit pieces for solo horn, solo bassoon or horn and bassoon duo by next Friday 15 May. Selected pieces will be workshopped twice by musicians George Strivens and Guylaine Eckersley in sessions led by Dr Rob Fokkens.

A great opportunity for emerging composers - workshops with Robert Fokkens and pieces played by George Strivens and Guylaine Eckersley.

28/04/2026

We’re excited to launch Composition: Wales 2027 🎶

If you’re a composer ready to take the next step, this is your chance to write a new piece and hear it brought to life by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at BBC Hoddinott Hall.

Along the way, you’ll work with conductor Jac Van Steen and Paul Mealor, and get real, practical feedback from the musicians performing your music.

✨Delivered in partnership with Nimbus Lyrita Arts and Tŷ Cerdd, Composition: Wales is your invitation to step forward and share your music!

Applications are now open and close on 1 June 2026. Full details (including some important changes this year) are in the Terms & Conditions.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3Bw6NfzHN1rN1mSyDjj1WRQ/composition-wales-2027

Rydym ni’n edrych ymlaen at lansio Cyfansoddi: Cymru 2027🎶

Os ydych chi’n gyfansoddwr sy’n barod i gymryd y cam nesaf, dyma eich cyfle i ysgrifennu darn newydd a fydd yn cael ei berfformio gan Gerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC yn Neuadd Hoddinott y BBC.

Byddwch yn cael cyfle i weithio â'r arweinydd Jac Van Steen a’r cyfansoddwr Paul Mealor yn ystod y broses, ac yn cael adborth ymarferol a gonest gan y cerddorion fydd yn perfformio eich cerddoriaeth.

✨ Cyfansoddi: Cymru, sy’n cael ei ddarparu mewn partneriaeth â Nimbus Lyrita Arts a Thŷ Cerdd: yw eich cyfle i rannu eich cerddoriaeth!

Mae'r cyfnod ymgeisio ar agor nawr ac yn cau ar 1 Mehefin 2026. Mae’r holl fanylion (gan gynnwys rhai newidiadau pwysig eleni) yn y Telerau ac Amodau.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3Bw6NfzHN1rN1mSyDjj1WRQ/composition-wales-2027

27/04/2026

We’re delighted that Prof Michael Zev Gordon (University of Birmingham) will be joining us for the final Composition Seminar of 2025/26, following earlier postponements. In this session, Michael will reflect on his music and in particular on how and why he has followed a middle path between the modern and the traditional. All are very welcome to attend.

𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗥
𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟴 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹, 𝟰:𝟭𝟬 𝗽𝗺
𝗕𝗼𝘆𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲, Cardiff University School of Music

𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗶𝘅𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻: 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹 𝗭𝗲𝘃 𝗚𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝘂𝗽𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰
𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹 𝗭𝗲𝘃 𝗚𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗼𝗻 (𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗵𝗮𝗺)

Michael Zev Gordon’s music has been described as having “a clockmaker’s craftsmanship [which] somehow coincides with romantic phantasmagoria” (The Sunday Times). His teachers – Holloway, Goehr, Knussen, Donatoni, Andriessen and Woolrich – have informed a distinctive voice in which the contemporary and the traditional subtly coexist, with recurring themes of memory, time and serenity. His work has been performed by leading artists and ensembles including BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and the choir of King’s College Cambridge. A double Ivors Classical Award winner and Prix Italia laureate, he has also released two portrait discs, On Memory (2009) and In the Middle of Things (2019), both named in The Times “100 Best Albums of the Year.”

Recent projects include the chamber opera Raising Icarus (2022), and the albums Diary Pieces (Resonus Classics, 2023) and The Impermanence of Things (NMC, 2024), featuring commissions from the BBC Symphony Orchestra and London Sinfonietta. His latest large-scale work, A Kind of Haunting (2025), reflects on the long shadow of the Holocaust, while 2026 will see him as featured composer at the Presteigne Festival. Michael Zev Gordon is Professor of Composition at the University of Birmingham.

22/04/2026

CymraegTŷ Cerdd is recruiting a Grants and Projects Assistant for 15 hours per week to join our small-but-dynamic staff team.We are looking for a highly organised and detail-oriented Grants and Projects Assistant to manage the day-to-day administration of Tŷ Cerdd’s funding programmes.The role w...

20/04/2026

Unfortunately, tomorrow’s Composition Seminar (21 April) has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

We hope to reschedule Prof Arlene Sierra’s seminar next academic year and will confirm details in due course.

Apologies for the short notice.

07/04/2026

Our next composition seminar will feature Emma Jenkins and David Hackbridge Johnson, respectively the librettist and composer of 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙯𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙮!, currently being performed by the Welsh National Opera. They will reflect on their collaborative process and the compositional and dramaturgical development of the work. All are welcome.

𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗥
𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟰𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹, 𝟰:𝟭𝟬–𝟱:𝟰𝟬𝗽𝗺
𝗕𝗼𝘆𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲, Cardiff University School of Music

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰
𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱 𝗛𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗺𝗺𝗮 𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝘀

In this seminar we will present a methodology for the development of an operatic work that draws on the history of Welsh mining communities. Taking as its starting point the gathering of facts relating to both the mining industry and, most importantly, the experience of the people within it, a libretto is then crafted to make a viable stage work that whilst having entertainment at its core, nevertheless has resonances with communities of industrial workers both past and present. The seminar will explore the collaborative process between writer and composer, the need for drafting materials and trialing certain stage presentations. And how does a creative team develop a work that while written in the 21st century reflects popular music styles of the mid-20th century?

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘐𝘙𝘖 (𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢).

20/03/2026

Calling all composers!

We’re excited to launch the second edition of the Tenby International Music Festival Composer Fellowship.

- Workshop with festival musicians
- Public performance
- Professional recording
📍 Tenby, Wales

🎬 Directed by Kian Ravaei

Submit here ➡️ bit.ly/timf2026

12/03/2026

Coming up in June - an opportunity to get a piece for bassoon and/or horn (solo or duo) workshopped as part of the Penarth Chamber Music Festival.

There are two workshop sessions, one closed (for composers only) and one public workshop during the festival. These will both be led by Dr Rob Fokkens, George Strivens (horn) and Guylaine Eckersley (bassoon).

Details below - deadline is 15 May. Do come along to the festival concerts as well - there are two launch concerts this Sunday 15 March at 11am and 3pm. See the PCMF page for booking and more information.

A great opportunity for emerging composers - workshops with Robert Fokkens and pieces played by George Strivens and Guylaine Eckersley.

12/03/2026

The Sofia Art and Music Festival (SAMF) offers a summer composition program, conducting program, and visiting artists working across disciplines with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra. Join this world-class Sofia festival.

10/03/2026

THE JAMES PANTYFEDWEN FOUNDATION
Guidelines for applications for grants for postgraduate students from Wales - deadline 29 May

09/03/2026

This week’s Composition Seminar will be presented by Dr David John Roche, composer and alumnus of Cardiff University School of Music . The session will explore aspects of his compositional process, including approaches to form, planning, research, orchestration and other technical considerations. All are very welcome to attend.

𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗥
𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟬 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵, 𝟰:𝟭𝟬 𝗽𝗺
𝗕𝗼𝘆𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 (𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺)
𝗗𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗲

Over the course of 2026, I will be working on - amongst other projects - three orchestral works and two concerti. Very few (if any) of these pieces will have been fully completed by the time this seminar takes place - I will still be actively writing and editing them. I would like to use this study group as an opportunity to reflect on these works-in-progress.

In doing this, and by sharing selected aspects of these incomplete compositions, I hope to offer authentic insight into my compositional processes and my approaches to large-scale form, planning, research, orchestration, and other technical considerations. I will also draw on examples from previously commissioned works in my catalogue to illustrate how these elements of my practice have developed over time, and to demonstrate how my writing is consistently shaped by my experiences of playing in rock and metal bands, as well as by my working-class Welsh background.