Wikipedia

Chris Gendall

Christopher Thomas Gendall (born 1980) is a New Zealand composer and lecturer in composition at the University of Auckland.

Early life and education

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Born in 1980 in Hamilton Gendall studied composition at Victoria University in Wellington.[1][2] Gendall studied under Roberto Sierra and Steven Stucky at Cornell University and was awarded his PhD in 2010 with his thesis entitled New Musical Rhythm: Toward a Reductive Analytical Method for Music since 1900.[3][2]

Career

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In 2009 Gendall, along with Gillian Whitehead, Ross Harris, John Psathas and Eve de Castro-Robinson, was one of the composers chosen by SOUNZ (Centre for New Zealand Music) to compose for SOUNZtender an online auction in which anyone could put up a tender for a composer's work.[4][5] Gendall's composition Suite for String Orchestra was written while he was Composer in Residence at the Banff Centre in Alberta.[6]

In 2010 he was appointed as the Creative New Zealand/Jack C Richards Composer in Residence at the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University.[7][8] The Vector Wellington Orchestra (now Orchestra Wellington) appointed Gendall as their Composer in Residence for 2011.[7][9] His Triple Concerto for the orchesta and the NZTrio was performed in 2012.[10]

Gendall was Mozart Fellow at the University of Otago in 2016 and 2017.[11][12][13] During the residency he composed Talking Earth for brass band.[14]

In 2020 on the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth he received a commission from the Auckland Philharmonia and composed Disquiet for piano trio based on Beethoven's piano trio Op. 70 no. 2.[15][16]

Gendall has participated in a number of international festivals and conferences including the Wellesley Composers’ Conference, the Aspen Music Festival, the Britten-Pears Contemporary Composition programme, the Royaumont Voix Nouvelles Composition Course, and the Aldeburgh Festival and his works have been performed by orchestras and ensembles in New Zealand and elsewhere.[2][11]

Gendall has also worked for RNZ as an assistant producer for the Upbeat programme.[7] In 2018 he was president of the Composers Association of New Zealand.[17] He has also been a mentor for the NZSO National Youth Orchestra Composer in Residence in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2024, and for the NZSO Todd Young Composer Award in 2017.[18]

Awards and honours

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Gendall won two awards in 2005 and 2006: a New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Todd Young Composer Award and an ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award.[7]

In 2008 he won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award at the APRA Awards for Wax Lyrical.[11]

Selected works

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  • Visionnaire (2003) – for vocal soloists, SATB choir and piano
  • Bop (2003) – for solo trombone and chamber ensemble
  • Hand to hand (2005) – for percussion ensemble of six players
  • Agitato (2007) – for chamber orchestra
  • Gung-ho (2007)
  • Wax lyrical (2008) – for chamber ensemble
  • Suite for string orchestra (2009)
  • Gravitas (2011) – for orchestra
  • Three details (2012) – for guitar, pre-recorded electronics and 4-8 sustaining instruments
  • Triple concerto (2012) – for violin, cello, piano and orchestra
  • Incident: an opera in one act (2014)
  • The charm offensive (2014) – for soprano and orchestra
  • Choruses: for shō, recorder and koto (2015)
  • Violin concerto (2016)
  • Talking earth (2017)
  • Siteswap (2019) – for solo horn
  • Disquiet (2020) – for piano trio
  • Crazing (2021) – for violin and percussion

References

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  1. ^ "Gendall, Chris, 1980-". tiaki.natlib.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Chris Gendall - SOUNZ". sounz.org.nz. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  3. ^ Gendall, Christopher Thomas (2010). New Musical Rhythm: Toward a Reductive Analytical Method for Music since 1900. PhD Thesis. Cornell University.
  4. ^ Biss, Rod (16 May 2009). "Sonata for you". New Zealand Listener: 47.
  5. ^ "SOUNZtender: the Concert - SOUNZ". sounz.org.nz. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  6. ^ "Suite for String Quartet - SOUNZ". sounz.org.nz. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d "Chris Gendall – 2011 Vector Wellington Orchestra Composer in Residence". New Zealand Opera News: 19. December 2011.
  8. ^ "Chris Gendall". RNZ. 17 March 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  9. ^ "Chris Gendall named Wellington orchestra's composer in residence". Scoop. 16 September 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  10. ^ "Triple Concerto - SOUNZ". sounz.org.nz. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  11. ^ a b c "Chris GENDALL: Wax Lyrical". RNZ. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  12. ^ "Art fellows announced". Otago Daily Times. 14 September 2016. Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  13. ^ Fox, Rebecca (26 January 2017). "Leaving notes for others". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  14. ^ "Talking Earth - SOUNZ". sounz.org.nz. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  15. ^ "Celebrating the symphonies that changed the world". Express: 12. March 2020 – via NDHA.
  16. ^ "Disquiet - SOUNZ". sounz.org.nz. Archived from the original on 22 May 2024. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  17. ^ "Music Feature: Chris Gendall, NZ Composers Association". RNZ. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  18. ^ "Chris Gendall". profiles.auckland.ac.nz. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
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