Lachlan Skipworth

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Lachlan Skipworth (born 1982) is an Australian composer based in Perth, Western Australia.

His works span across orchestral, chamber, vocal and experimental music and is heavily influenced by the Japanese shakuhachi and the honkyoku aesthetic.

Skipworth co-founded the new music ensemble Intercurrent in 2015, along with percussionist Louise Devenish, pianist Emily Green-Armytage and clarinettist Ashley William Smith. He also founded the chamber music collective Cygnus Arioso with his wife, violinist Akiko Miyazawa.[1] Both ensembles are based in Perth, Western Australia.

Education[edit]

Skipworth played in a wind quintet in high school, which introduced him to chamber music.[2]

Skipworth studied at the University of Western Australia, earning a Bachelor of Music Education at the UWA Conservatorium of Music, where he studied with composers Roger Smalley and Iain Grandage and wrote his first serious compositions.[3]

He traveled to Japan to learn shakuhachi for three years.[3] Skipworth's main shakuhachi teachers were the revered masters Kakizakai Kaoru and Yokoyama Katsuya,[4] and has been mentored by shakuhachi grand master Riley Lee.[4]

In 2008, he moved to Sydney, New South Wales to study at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (M.Mus., Ph.D.) and studied with Anne Boyd. Between 2010 and 2011, he spent two semesters in Germany undertaking a kontaktstudium at the Freiburg Hochschule fur Musik with composer and clarinettist Jorg Widmann.[5] Skipworth graduated with a Ph.D. in composition in December 2016.[6]

Career[edit]

After winning the Paul Lowin Prize for orchestral composition in 2016, Skipworth earned a string of major commissions and appointments.[6] The winning work, Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, earned the APRA Art Music Award for Performance of the Year,[7] and was chosen by ABC Classic FM to be presented at the 2016 International Rostrum of Composers in Poland. In 2016, he was appointed composer-in-residence with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.[8] His work Spiritus was a finalist in the Paul Lowin Orchestral Prizes in 2019.[9]

The International Society for Contemporary Music selected his works dark nebulae and Clarinet Quintet as the official Australian work at their World Music Days in Slovenia (2015) and Vancouver (2017) respectively.[8][10]

His work has also been performed by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra,[11] Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, New England Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus.[8]

In 2019, he collaborated with Australian indigenous singer Don Nunggarrgalu and the Darwin Symphony Orchestra.[8]

In 2020, Skipworth was one of the composers commissioned as part of Sydney Symphony Orchestra's 50 Fanfares project.[12]

Psalterphone[edit]

Skipworth invented the psalterphone for his work The Night Sky Fall. The instrument combines the layout of a psaltery with the sound of a bowed vibraphone.[13]

Discography[edit]

Skipworth's Chamber Works vol. 2 debuted at #1 on the ARIA Top 20 Classical/Crossover Albums chart. [14]

Album Release date
Chamber Works 2019
Ode 2020
Breath of Thunder, Avem Asperitas and Hymns in Reverie 2020
Chamber Works, Vol. 2 2022

Awards and nominations[edit]

ARIA Music Awards[edit]

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2022 Chamber Works, Vol. 2 ARIA Award for Best Classical Album Nominated [15]

Other awards[edit]

Award Year Work Status Ref.
Art Music Awards: Work of the Year, Instrumental 2013 dark nebulae Finalist [16]
Art Music Awards: Work of the Year, Orchestral 2015 Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra Finalist [17]
Paul Lowin Prize, Orchestral 2016 Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra Won
Albert H. Maggs Award 2017 Spiritus Won [18]
Art Music Awards: Work of the Year, Orchestral 2018 Spiritus Finalist
Paul Lowin Prize, Orchestral 2019 Spiritus Finalist [19]
Art Music Awards: Work of the Year – Chamber Music 2023 Pine Chant Won [20]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Backstage with Lachlan Skipworth". Limelight. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  2. ^ Appleby, Rosalind (9 August 2019). "It's time to listen". Seesawmag. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b Appleby, Rosalind (9 January 2016). "Celebrity Soft Spot Lachlan Skipworth". Noted. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Lachlan Skipworth: Represented Artist Profile : Australian Music Centre". wAustralian Music Centre (AMC). Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  5. ^ Skipworth, Lachlan (26 August 2016). "HONNIN NO SHIRABE : SEARCHING FOR A COMPOSITIONAL RESPONSE TO THE TRADITION OF SHAKUHACHI HONKYOKU". issuu.com. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  6. ^ a b Blankendaal, Leah (7 December 2016). "Lachlan Skipworth and Brett Dean win major music award". CutCommon. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  7. ^ "UWA clarinet soloist wins Art Music Performance of the Year Award: Archive Page". The University of Western Australia. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d Skipworth, Lachlan. "About". Lachlan Skipworth. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  9. ^ McPherson, Angus (1 October 2019). "Finalists for the 2019 Paul Lowin Prizes announced". Liimelight Magazine.
  10. ^ "Composer Lachlan Skipworth Selected for the Second Time at the International Society for Contemporary Music". Music Australia. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  11. ^ Magazine, Feature (1 October 2021). "Queensland Symphony Orchestra unveils 2022 Season". feature. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Lachlan Skipworth". Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  13. ^ "It's time to listen". Seesawmag. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  14. ^ "ARIA Top 20 Classical/Crossover Albums Chart". www.aria.com.au. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  15. ^ Lars Brandle (12 October 2022). "Rüfüs Du Sol Leads 2022 ARIA Awards Nominees (Full List)". The Music Network. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  16. ^ "APRA AMCOS | Music Industry Awards – Celebrating Creativity". APRA AMCOS. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  17. ^ "APRA AMCOS | Music Industry Awards – Celebrating Creativity". APRA AMCOS. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  18. ^ McPherson, Angus. "Lachlan Skipworth wins the Albert H Maggs Composition Award". Limelight. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  19. ^ McPherson, Angus (1 October 2019). "Finalists for the 2019 Paul Lowin Prizes announced". Limelight Magazine.
  20. ^ "2023 Art Music Award Winners". APRA AMCOS. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
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