|
In a career spanning over four decades, Paul Mitchell-Davidson has been active in almost every area of music as a composer, performer and musical director. He began his career in 1963 as an aspiring pop musician. Seduced by the energy and sounds of all types of jazz he began investigating the mysteries of harmony and improvisation. Hearing the music of J.S.Bach similarly led to an intensive study of counterpoint. In the 70's and 80's Paul was involved in extensive work for radio, television and recording sessions as composer, arranger, musical director and musician. Alongside this was work in the theatre which produced not only original scores but also orchestrations notably of two Sondheim European premieres.
Many commissions have resulted in concert works which include chamber, orchestral, choral and also large scale jazz compositions performed at venues both nationally and internationally. Recent works include; "Shouting on Swan Street" commissioned by the Manchester Festival, "Juego de Pasion" and "Louisiana Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Virtual Ensemble" for the Apollo Saxophone Quartet, "Kintimarni" for the Kintamarni Saxophone Quartet, "Dove Stone Concerto for Mandolin and String Orchestra" for virtuoso mandolinist Alison Stephens, "Rainsong Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra" for Craig Ogden. "Tapestry" , a 32 minute four movement work for mandolin and harp was released on the Black Box label in December 2003. Paul currently combines his work as a composer, with lecturing in composition and co-ordinating a masterclass series at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. |
