Matthew Whiteside Explained

Matthew Whiteside
Genre:Classical
Occupation:Composer
Years Active:2008–present
Website:http://www.matthewwhiteside.co.uk

Matthew Whiteside (born 1988) is a composer based in Scotland. His work includes opera, chamber music, sound installations and soundtracks.

Career

Originally from Northern Ireland, Whiteside moved to Glasgow after studying music at Queen's University, Belfast. In 2012, he was awarded his masters in composition from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and since then has worked as a freelance composer. His work has been featured in Sound Festival,[1] the Cottier Chamber Project,[2] Edinburgh Festival Fringe (as part of the Made in Scotland Showcase)[3] and the NI Science Festival.[4] His music has been performed by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Opera Connect, Cappella Nova,[5] Red Note Ensemble, Ensemble Offspring, the United Strings of Europe and Garth Knox and broadcast on BBC Scotland, BBC Radio Scotland,[6] BBC Radio Ulster,[7] RTÉ lyric fm,[8] BBC Radio 3,[9] BBC 6 Music[10] CyBC and WFMT.

With support from Creative Scotland, in 2015, Whiteside released his debut album Dichroic Light featuring a selection of music for soloists and chamber ensembles both acoustic and with live electronics.[11] Solo for Viola D’amore and Live Electronics, recorded by Emma Lloyd and featured on Dichroic Light, was described as having the overall effect of ‘one of meditation – a Japanese stone garden whose raked ripples have been brought into sound’.[12] The same year he was commissioned to collaborate with artist Dominika Mayovich on When Two Worlds Collide, an interactive installation for R-Space Gallery[13] and Sound Scotland, and he scored the documentary, Michael Palin's Quest for Artemisia for BBC 4 directed by Eleanor Yule and Bernd Porr's indie feature film, Anna Unbound.

Whiteside was commissioned in 2016 by Lorimer Productions to compose Nobilis Humilis inspired by the hymn to St Magnus, "Nobilis, humilis" for Cappella Nova's Echoes and Traces tour.[14] The same year he was commissioned by Cottier Chamber Project to compose a piece based on the work of Lord Kelvin and John Stewart Bell for Juice Vocal Ensemble, Glasgow University Chapel Choir and Davur Juul Magnussen trombone ensemble for performance in the University of Glasgow Cloisters. The resulting piece was called Always Ever Unknowable with words written by Danish Playwright Helene Grøn. He also attended Magnetic North's Rough Mix residency in Aberdeen.[15]

In 2017, Whiteside was commissioned by Scottish Opera to again collaborate with Helene Grøn for a short opera for Scottish Opera Connect called Little Black Lies.[16] He was also accepted onto the RTÉ NSO/CMC composer lab to write Repercussive[17] and commissioned by the Institute of Physics for the NI Science Festival to collaborate with Marisa Zanotti on writing Entangled for string quartet, electronics and film based on the work of John Stewart Bell for and premièred at the NI Science Festival 2018 by the Aurea Quartet. This work was also featured on his second album Entangled release in October 2019. He also scored David Graham Scott's The End of the Game and was supported by Creative Scotland to attended the Atelier for Young Festival and Cultural Managers in Shanghai run by the European Festivals Association.[18]

While still a student he founded Edit-Point with fellow composer Timothy Cooper. Together, along with Nicholas Virgo and Louise Rossiter, they produced 16 concerts of electroacoustic music including concerts at Sound Scotland, Belfast Festival at Queen's and Glasgow City Halls.[19]

In 2016, Whiteside began The Night With...[20] putting contemporary classical music into informal venues. The Night With... became a SCIO[21] in 2018 with Whiteside as CEO & Artistic Director. As of December 2018 he has produced 17 concerts in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen as The Night With...[22]

Along with his concert work, in 2023 Whiteside self-published The Guidebook to Self-Releasing Your Music to support composers and musicians through a self‑release process and share his experiences of releasing his own music and developing the record label of The Night With...[23] .

Prizes and awards

Selected compositions

Recordings

Dichroic Light – IMBT 1501[32]

Anna Unbound – IMBT 1502

Exhibition Music – IMBT 1601

Piece for Violin and Bass Clarinet – IMBT 1701[33]

...Everyone is a Child of the Inbetween... – IMBT 1801[34]

Unda Malacia – MW 1901

Entangled – MW 1902[35]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: soundfestival 2018: Matthew Whiteside work performed.
  2. Web site: Cottier Chamber Project 2016 brochure. Issuu. 31 December 2018.
  3. Web site: Echoes and Traces Made in Scotland. www.madeinscotlandshowcase.com. 31 December 2018.
  4. Web site: Entangled – John Bell Lecture & Concert Performance.
  5. Web site: Music review: Cappella Nova sing Echoes and Traces in Stirling Castle Chapel. The Herald. Glasgow. 30 December 2018.
  6. Web site: BBC Radio Scotland – Classics Unwrapped, BBC Cardiff Singer of the World finalists. BBC. 30 December 2018.
  7. Web site: BBC Radio Ulster – Classical Connections with John Toal, Seán Morgan-Rooney, Tom Myles, Matthew Whiteside, Winter Olympics. BBCf. 30 December 2018.
  8. Web site: Sound Out Gig Guide – Sunday December 16th. RTÉ lyric fm. 30 December 2018.
  9. Web site: BBC Radio 3 – Late Junction, Wednesday – Verity Sharp. BBC. 30 December 2018.
  10. Web site: BBC Radio 6 Music – Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone, Laurie Anderson. BBC. 30 December 2018.
  11. Web site: Dichroic Light: the debut album from Matthew Whiteside. creativescotland.com. 30 December 2018.
  12. Web site: Musicweb International Dichroic Light Review.
  13. Web site: R-Space Gallery Two Worlds Collide. www.rspacelisburn.com. 31 December 2018.
  14. Web site: Echoes and Traces Across Scotland. 19 August 2016. The Scots Magazine. 30 December 2018.
  15. Web site: Rough Mix 2016 Rough Mix. www.magneticnorth.org.uk. 30 December 2018.
  16. Web site: Scottish Opera, Opera Sparks. scottishopera.org.uk. 30 December 2018.
  17. Web site: Composer Lab 2017. 15 November 2016. Contemporary Music Centre. 30 December 2018.
  18. Web site: July 2017 Awards Listing. creativescotland.com. 31 December 2018.
  19. Web site: Past Performances. 20 November 2012. Edit-Point. 31 December 2018.
  20. Web site: Composer Matthew Whiteside curates new gig series, The Night With.... creativescotland.com. 30 December 2018.
  21. Web site: The Night With – TotalGiving™ – Donate to Charity Online Fundraising for Charity UK. www.totalgiving.co.uk. 30 December 2018.
  22. Web site: The Night With... Concerts. The Night With. 31 December 2018.
  23. Web site: Book Review Guidebook To Self‑releasing Your Music . 2024-10-05 . www.soundonsound.com.
  24. Web site: Scottish Awards for New Music shortlist announced . 2024-10-05 . Classical Music . en.
  25. Web site: New Music Scotland. 2021-06-26. newmusicscotland.co.uk.
  26. Web site: New Music Scotland. 2021-06-04. newmusicscotland.co.uk.
  27. Web site: The Hot 100 2019: Music. 1 November 2019. The List. 4 December 2019.
  28. Web site: Light Moves 2018 Award Winners.
  29. Web site: Sunday Herald Culture Awards 2018.
  30. Web site: Classical:NEXT Fellowships – Classical:NEXT. classicalnext.com. 31 December 2018.
  31. Web site: Sunday Herald Culture Awards 2017.
  32. Web site: Release 'Dichroic Light' by Matthew Whiteside – MusicBrainz. musicbrainz.org. 30 December 2018.
  33. Web site: Release group 'Piece for Violin and Bass Clarinet' by Matthew Whiteside – MusicBrainz. musicbrainz.org. 30 December 2018.
  34. Web site: Release group "...Everyone is a Child of the Inbetween ..." by Matthew Whiteside – MusicBrainz. musicbrainz.org. 30 December 2018.
  35. Web site: Entangled. 2 July 2019. Matthew Whiteside. 4 December 2019.

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