News
Forthcoming Events
OUT NOW: Changing the System: The Music of Christian Wolff, to be published by Ashgate Publishing in July 2010.
The first major study of Wolff's music, co-edited by Philip with Stephen Chase. Philip has contributed two chapters relating to the piano music and performing Wolff's music. The book is available for order on-line. Click here for full details
Listen to This: Micromusic
Concert with Apartment House curated by Joanna Bailie, including In Hyper Intervals by Johannes Kreidler
Thursday 8th September, 8pm. Oxford Playhouse
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. Tuesday September 13th,7.30pm, as part of the International Chamber Music Series
A concert of music by JOHN CAGE, coinciding with the end of the Hayward Gallery's touring exhibition Every Day Is A Good Day. The concert includes 4'33", Concert for Piano and Orchestra and Music for nine
David Milsom (violin) and Philip Thomas (piano)
Thursday 29th September, 1.15pm. St.Paul's Hall, University of Huddersfield
The first of two concerts in the 2011-12 series featuring Philip's violinist colleague at the University of Huddersfield. Featuring Bryn Harrison's Listenings I, Anton Webern's Four Pieces and Christian Wolff's Pebbles
Merce Cunningham Dance Company Legacy Tour
Wednesday October 5th, Barbican Centre, London.
Philip performs with the MCDC as part of their final London appearances, playing Cage's Concert for piano and orchestra alongside the iconic dance Antic Meet
New experimental music from Canada
Philip is planning a series of concerts of music by Canadian and British composers to take place in 2012-13. The programmes will feature new works by Martin Arnold, Christopher Fox, Johnny Herbert and Cassandra Miller, alongside music by a number of other Canadian composers stemming from an experimental tradition.
Recent Concerts
January 23rd 2011, IGNM Concerts, Basel
Three works by Christian Wolff alonside music by Laurence Crane, Michael Finnissy and Bryn Harrison.
Merce Cunningham Dance Company Legacy Tour 17th November 2010
Philip performed John Cage's Concert for piano and orchestra with Takehisa Kosugi, John King and the MCDC in Clermont-Ferrand as part of their final tour, celebrating Cunningham's extraordinary choreography.
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2010 John Cage: Every Day Is A Good Day
Philip curated a series of concerts during the course of hcmf 2010 to go alongside the exhibition of John Cage's visual art (see here and here for more information). It included a 12-hour solo version of Electronic Music for Piano (extracts of which will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on January 29th 2011) and a performance of Winter Music and Atlas Eclipticalis with Apartment House
Two other concerts with Apartment House over the Autumn:
October 23rd, Transit Festival, Leuven, Belgium.
featuring premieres of new works by Christopher Fox and Stefan Van Eycken.
November 6th 2010, Cut and Splice Festival, London.
including Stockhausen's Kurzwellen, subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3
Wednesday 22nd September, 2010 five40five, Sheffield City Hall
A programme of classic and new works for toy piano. Music by Pat Allison, Mick Beck, John Cage, Philip Corner, Alvin Curran, Michael Finnissy, Kyle Gann, Helmut Lachenmann, John Lely and Nick Williams
Recent CD releases
divisions that could be autonomous but that comprise the whole
CD of music by James Saunders featuring Philip Thomas performing PART OF IT MAY ALSO BE PART OF SOMETHING ELSE as well as the edges ensemble, directed by Philip, performing imperfections on the surface are occasionally apparent released on another timbre
Positions and Descriptions
Simon H Fell's remarkable genre-defying, Boulez- Sun Ra- and Mingus-infused Positions and Descriptions: Composition No.75 gets a CD release at last. Philip plays piano alongside luminaries from the jazz and improvised worlds. Available through Clean Feed Records
Nothing but the hours
New DVD of composer and film maker Geoffrey Cox, including No Escape for film, piano and electronics. Available through CeReNeM
fields have ears, a CD of piano music by Michael Pisaro out now on another timbre
piano piece piano piece
A CD of piano music by Tim Parkinson released on edition wandelweiser
the isolde scores
limited edition high-quality cdr as part of Jez Riley French's engraved glass label. Includes performances of French's photo scores by Michael Pisaro, Philip Thomas, Jez riley French & Daniel Jones, Anastasia Chrysanthakopoulou, Maile Colbert, Greg Stuart, Barry Chabala and Coastguard All stars
For reviews of all the above, see recordings
Out Soon:
The first volumes of the complete solo piano music of Christian Wolff, for release on sub rosa
.
Other News
In August 2011, Philip was promoted to position of Reader in Music at the University of Huddersfield.
Since January 2010 Philip is heading up both the performance programme and the Masters programme at the University of Huddersfield Music Department. He is also pioneering the Music Department as a centre for the study of the performance of experimental music and welcomes proposals at doctorate and post-doctorate levels. See CeReNeM for related information and here for Philip's research page.
The Ashgate Companion to Experimental Music, edited by James Saunders and to which Philip has contributed a chapter concerning performance, 'A Prescription for Action', is now available for sale. Click here for more details.
