The University of Leeds

Graduate Student, Music

Research Postgraduate

Thesis Title: Portfolio of Original Compositions with Commentary

About

As a composer, conductor and academic Adam is actively involved in a range of activities covering several genres and disciplines. His practice-led doctorate focuses on the theoretical and philosophical aspects of his compositional aesthetic. Of primary concern is the relationship (or non-relationship) between composer and listener in light of their orientations to the musical text and the mapping of their engagement with it. It is the confluence of semiotic, narratological, and post-structural thought that forms the locus of Adam’s theoretical and compositional work.

Adam’s compositional ‘style’ purposefully does not ‘belong’ to that of any school or lineage. In light of the potential to influence a listener’s mapping process through musical structure, presentation and inter-textual references, Adam takes a genre-blind approach to his engagement with music, be it his own or that of others. Outside of his university training, Adam has received tuition from Chaya Czernowin and Michael Finnissy. His music (written under the pseudonym 'Adam Fergler') has been performed by Eva Zöllner, Ian Pace, Peter Bradley-Fulgoni, Labyrinth, Fine Arts Brass and ICEBREAKER, among others.

Examples of Adam's music can be found here: http://soundcloud.com/adam-fergler
You can read his (not terribly academic) blog here: http://adamfergler.tumblr.com
And you can follow @adamfergler on Twitter

Selected Works:

*2010*

for solo piano
Pno
First performance: Orlando Shamlou, University of Leeds, May 2010

Artifacts (one)
Tape

heterophony/farbenspiel
Solo Hn, Fl (+Picc & BsFl) , BsCl, Pno, Guit, Perc, Vln, Vla, Vc
First performance: LS Two, University of Leeds, April 2010

*2009*
At this point add the extra ingredients
3 voices
First performance: Juice, University of York, January 2010

for solo viola
Vla
First performance: Helen Palmer, University of Leeds, December 2009

‘…I want to know about the lull in the storm’
Open instrumentation
Workshop performance: ICEBREAKER, Howard Assembly Rooms, April 2009

Requiem (from Dies Luctus)
VII: Reddetur votum; IX: Lacrimosa
Sop, Fl, Cl, 2 Perc, Vln, Vc
First performance: LS Two, University of Leeds Contemporary Music Showcase, April 2009

Translation is the art of failure
Tape
First performance: Brudenell Social Club, April 2009

‘…when all of the beauty seems just to be wrong…’
BsCl (+Cl), Vln, Pno
First performance: Labyrinth, University of Leeds Contemporary Music Showcase, April 2009

*2008*
Passacaglia & Chorale (Quintet No. 2)
Fl, Vln, Sop, Alt, Vln, Vla
First performance: FOCAM, Leftbank Leeds, May 2008

Sonata da Chiesa
7 Perc

Olivier Messiaen: Le Basier de l’Enfant-Jésus (from Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus [1944])
2 Perc, Hp, String Orch

*2007*
a long time coming...
String quartet, tape

Double
Solo ASax, solo Pno, 2 Fl (1+Picc), Cl (+BsCl), BarSax, 2 Tbn
First performance: LS Two, University of Leeds Contemporary Music Showcase, April 2007

flirtations
Acc, DB
First performance: (solo accordion movements only): Eva Zöllner, University of Leeds Contemporary Music Showcase, April 2008

I Never Dance without Pain
ASax, Tpt, Tbn, Perc, Guit, Vln, Electronics

Quintet No. 1
Rec, Tbn, Guit, Vln, DB

*2006*
…and then I will sneak into your room
Solo Pno, Orch

Ascension 5
Fl (+AFl & BsFl), Perc, Pno, Vc

Charles Ives has the question… Douglas Adams has the answer (from 54° 33’ N, 03° 07’ W)
Orch

de profundis
Fl, Cl, Pno, Vln, Vc

Junctures/Abstractions (an hommage to Anton Webern)
Pno
Workshop performance: Ian Pace, University of Leeds Contemporary Music Showcase, April 2007

Syzygy
Tbn, Perc
First performance: Jonathan Hill & Kate Whitaker, University of Leeds, October 2006

‘…the wrong end of a butternut squash’ (from 54° 33’ N, 03° 07’ W)
Tpt (+Flug)/Crnt, Hn

Universal Necrophilia
Solo Timp, Perc, String Orch

First performance: Kate Whitaker, Roddy Hawkins & LUUMS Symphony Orchestra, University of Leeds, June 2006

*2005*
Ascension 2
Pno
First performance: Peter Bradley-Fulgoni, University of Leeds, June 2006

Ascension 4
Cl

Stanzas of Gibberish – Nothing in Black and White Makes Sense
BsCl, Tpt, Perc, DKit, Theremin, EGuit, BsGuit, 
First performance: Howl for Now, University of Leeds, October 2005

Your Government is in Control – Go Back to Bed
Perc

*2004*
Ascension 9
Ob


Adam is also active as a conductor, currently directing the Leeds University Union Music Society's Symphony Orchestra and co-directing the university’s new music ensemble, LS Two (a position he has held for three years and through which he has premiered all seven new works written for the ensemble during his tenure). His contemporary repertoire includes:

Chaya Czernowin: Afatsim
Beat Furrer: Gaspra
Gerard Grisey: Vortex Temporum
Helmut Lachenmann: "...zwei Gefühle..." Musik mit Leonardo
Michael Spencer: Ayahuasca Haze

His orchestral repertoire includes:

Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 ‘Eroica’
Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from ‘West Side Story’
Borodin: Polovtsian Dances
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1
Dvořák: Symphony No. 8
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Ives: The Unanswered Question
Martinů: Piano Concerto No. 3
Mahler: Symphony No. 4
Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 1 in G
Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kijé Suite
Scriabin: Reverie
Schumann: Symphony No. 4
Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1
Taneyev: Overture: The Oresteia
Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony

The diversity of Adam’s work has resulted in a variety of collaborations and affiliations. He has been an active member of Forum of Composers and Musicians ( www.focam.co.uk ) since he sat on its founding committee in 2005. He has been a fervent supporter of the Leeds University Union Music Society
( www.luums.org.uk ) since 2003, conducting three of their orchestras in that time. He is also a member of the quasi-spontaneous, semi-improvisatory group Projectisle
( www.projectisle.org ). Adam has written music for university film projects and is at the beginning of a collaborative relationship with Forge Solutions writing pre-recorded music for theatre productions. He was also recently employed as orchestrator on Starling’s debut album ‘Public Service’
( www.myspace.com/starlingsings ).

Adam is in the final year of a PhD at the University of Leeds
( http://alifeinthedayofamusicrpg.wordpress.com ), where he also teaches first year undergraduate modules. His doctorate is supervised by Dr. Michael Spencer and Dr. Luke Windsor, and financial assistance is provided by the Arts and Humanities Research Council ( www.ahrc.ac.uk ).

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