Summary

Simon Holt is a composer whose music demands unusual commitment from his interpreters - his intricate sound-worlds often comprise complex, rich textures, offset by ‘still centres’ - for the purpose of making music which speaks with extraordinary power. 

He was born in Bolton, Lancashire on 21 February, 1958. He immersed himself in playing the organ and piano as well as visual art during his sixth form years at Bolton School. In 1976, he attended Bolton College of Art for a year where he fulfilled a foundation course in all areas of visual representation. Shortly before achieving a diploma in composition from the Royal Northern College of Music, where he studied with Anthony Gilbert from 1978 to 1982, he received a commission from the London Sinfonietta, which became Kites (1983). He was soon firmly established with a series of commissions and fruitful collaborations not only with the Sinfonietta, but also with the Nash Ensemble and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, resulting in pieces such as eco-pavan (1998), Sparrow Night (1989) and Lilith (1990) respectively. Inspired by Messiaen, Xenakis and Feldman as well as visual artists such as Goya, Giacometti and Brâncusi, his music is innately dramatic and impulsive in nature. His output is diverse, consisting of chamber music, concertos, songs, opera, orchestral and piano music. 

From 2000 onwards, Holt has written several concertos and orchestral pieces, including the percussion concerto, a table of noises (2007), for Colin Currie. He was Composer in Association with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales from 2008 to 2014, working closely with the conductor Thierry Fischer on pieces such as Troubled Light (2008) for orchestra and Morpheus Wakes (2011), a flute concerto written for Emmanuel Pahud, both for the BBC Proms. Previously, he had been commissioned to write two orchestral pieces; Syrensong (1987), his first orchestral piece, written for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the viola concerto, walking with the river’s roar (1991), for Nobuko Imai and the BBC Philharmonic. Recent commissions include the orchestral piece, Surcos (2016), for Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker and co-commissioned by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra who gave the UK première with the conductor Ilan Volkov and the basset clarinet concerto, Joy Beast (2016), for Mark Simpson and the BBC Philharmonic as part of the New Music Biennial 2017. In his 60th birthday year he was a featured composer at the 2018 Aldeburgh Festival, which included the world premières of Llanto (para las chumberas) and his 4th Quartet: Cloud House. Psappha Ensemble premièred their 30th anniversary commission, The Sower, in Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, on 17 February 2022 followed by two further performances in Sheffield and Manchester. For the past twenty years, he has done much of his writing in southern Spain, in his home close to Granada.

Simon Holt’s music has been recorded on several record labels, most extensively with NMC.

Holt is currently Professor of Composition at the Royal College of Music.

Career Highlights

1978-82 – Studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Anthony Gilbert

1985 – Came to prominence as featured composer at the Bath Festival

1989 – Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Capriccio Spettrale

1998 – Featured composer at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival

2001 – Le Prix de la Fondation Prince Pierre, Monaco for Sunrise’ yellow noise

2002 – Ivor Novello Classical Music Award for Boots of Lead

2002 – RPS Award for Two movements for string quartet

2004 – British Composer Award (Stage Works) for Who put Bella in the Wych elm?

2006 – British Composer Award (Orchestral) for witness to a snow miracle

2008 – Appointed Composer in Association with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales leading to five commissions, including Troubled Light which received its première at the BBC Proms

2009 – World première of St Vitus in the kettle commissioned for the opening of Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, Wales, and performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Thierry Fischer

2009 – British Composer Award (Orchestral) for a table of noises

2011 – Week long residency at the Royal College of Music featuring several performances of orchestral and chamber music

2015 – 3rd Quartet was premièred by the JACK Quartet at Wigmore Hall and the Internationales Musikfestival Heidelberger Frühling

2017 – Surcos, a co-commission from the Berliner Philharmoniker (conducted by Sir Simon Rattle) and CBSO (with Ilan Volkov), was performed three times in Berlin and opened the Berliner Philharmoniker's first appearance at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg

2017 – Basset clarinet concerto, Joy Beast, written for Mark Simpson and commissioned by the BBC, received four performances; premièred in Hull and then in London as part of the New Music Biennial 2017

2017 – 'The Music of Simon Holt', edited by David Charlton - the first full-scale study of Holt's compositions - was published by Boydell & Brewer

2018 – 60th birthday celebrations include the BBC National Orchestra of Wales’ performance of St Vitus in the kettle and an icicle of moon at Hoddinott Hall and the BBC Philharmonic and Colin Currie perfomed a table of noises at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, conducted by John Storgårds

2018 – Featured at the Aldeburgh Festival with a series of chamber pieces including two world premières: Llanto (para las chumberas) and 4th Quartet: Cloud House

2021 – Cloud Shadow, the tenth piece commissioned by the Nash Ensemble, was premièred and live streamed at the Wigmore Hall London.

2022 – The Sower, commissioned by Psappha for their 30th anniversary, was premièred at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge.