Composer and conductor Kenneth Young has been awarded the Trans-Tasman Composer Exchange and is working with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

The Composer Exchange is a collaborative project between SOUNZ, the Centre for New Zealand Music and the Australian Music Centre which aims to increase musical collaborations between the two countries. Each year a composer from one country is given the opportunity to spend between six weeks and two months with a leading professional performing ensemble in the other country. Composer and conductor Kenneth Young has been awarded the Trans-Tasman Composer Exchange and is working with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

The Composer Exchange is a collaborative project between SOUNZ, the Centre for New Zealand Music and the Australian Music Centre which aims to increase musical collaborations between the two countries. Each year a composer from one country is given the opportunity to spend between six weeks and two months with a leading professional performing ensemble in the other country.Mr Young is being hosted by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, a group with whom he already has a considerable history.

"I have conducted the Tasmanian Symphony several times over the last ten years and have many friends there," Mr Young said. "I am very much looking forward to spending intensive time with the orchestra as a composer - Hobart is an inspiring place to write music. It is very beautiful."

Young will work closely with the players to write a new work which the orchestra will perform in their main season in 2009. While in Hobart he will also be a mentor for the Australian Composers School and give guest lectures at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music. Young will return in December to conduct the TSO in a recording for ABC Classics of his own Saffire Concerto for guitar quartet and orchestra.

Kenneth Young has been commissioned by various orchestras and artistic organisations, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (Symphonies 1 and 2, Sinfonietta, Dance, Brass Quintet), Auckland Philharmonia (Piano Concerto), Southern Sinfonia (Concertino for Horn and Orchestra), Wellington Youth Orchestra (Virgen de la Esperanza), International Festival of the Arts (Variations), and Chamber Music New Zealand (Fantasy for Two Pianos, String Quartet, Vignette for brass trio, Five Pieces for piano, Sextet for string quartet, clarinet and piano).

His development as a composer began as a 15 year old while attending Cashmere High School in Christchurch where he came under the influence of his music teacher, Frank Dennis, who sensed an ability beyond Young's involvement with the brass band movement (an interest he still maintains), encouraging him to write, conduct, and embark on a course of serious music study.

Young began playing both tuba and percussion with the Christchurch Symphony and National Youth Orchestra while studying composition at Canterbury and Auckland Universities, eventually being appointed Principal Tuba of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, a position which gave him the financial independence to freely pursue composition and conducting.

In 2004, Young was awarded a Lilburn Trust Citation Award for Outstanding Services to New Zealand Music. His work Symphony No. 2 was a finalist for the SOUNZ Contemporary Award 2005.

See more information about Kenneth Young

Background:

SOUNZ, the Centre for New Zealand music, is dedicated to promoting, fostering and providing the music of New Zealand composers.

The Trans-Tasman Exchange is funded by the Australia Council and Creative New Zealand and managed by the Australian Music Centre and SOUNZ, the Centre for NZ Music. The Centres undertake a role of 'wedding planner' - identifying composers and ensembles who would work fruitfully together to perform and create music by both the resident composer and other Australasian composers. Together the music centres work to ensure that promotional opportunities resulting from the Exchange increase the understanding and appreciation of music from their respective countries.

Previous recipients have been: Gareth Farr (NZ) and The Song Company, an internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble (2003); James Ledger (Aus) and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra (2004); James Gardner (NZ) and ELISION, Australia's premier new music ensemble (2005); and Colin Bright (Aus) and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (2006).

15/04/08