For the horse racing

Horseracing in the United Kingdom

Horse racing is a popular spectator sport in Great Britain, with hundreds of years of unique heritage. Gambling on horseraces is also considered the cornerstone of the British betting industry....

 commentator, see Simon Holt (commentator)

Simon Holt (commentator)

Simon Holt is a British horse racing commentator, who since the beginning of 2000 has been the main race commentator for Channel 4.-Commentary career:...

.

Simon Holt (born 21 February 1958, Bolton

Bolton

Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...

, England) is a British composer.

Biography

Holt was educated at Bolton School

Bolton School

Bolton School is an independent day school in Bolton, in the North-West of England. It comprises a co-educational Nursery and Infant School and single sex Junior and Senior Schools . With almost 2,400 pupils it is one of the largest independent day schools in the country.-History:Bolton School...

. Shortly after graduating from the Royal Northern College of Music

Royal Northern College of Music

The Royal Northern College of Music is a music school in Manchester, England. It is located on Oxford Road in Chorlton on Medlock, at the western edge of the campus of the University of Manchester and is one of four conservatories associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music...

, he became firmly established on the new music circuit with a series of commissions and fruitful collaborations with the London Sinfonietta

London Sinfonietta

The London Sinfonietta is an English chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble specialises in contemporary music and works across a wide range of genres, performing modern classics alongside world premieres, and includes music by electronica artists as well as folk and...

 and the Nash Ensemble

Nash Ensemble

The Nash Ensemble of London is an acclaimed English chamber ensemble. It was founded by Artistic Director Amelia Freedman in 1964, while she was a student at the Royal Academy of Music, and was named after the Nash Terraces around the Academy...

. Influenced by Messiaen

Olivier Messiaen

Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...

, Xenakis

Iannis Xenakis

Iannis Xenakis was a Romanian-born Greek ethnic, naturalized French composer, music theorist, and architect-engineer. He is commonly recognized as one of the most important post-war avant-garde composers...

 and Feldman

Morton Feldman

Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...

 as well as visual artists such as Goya, Giacometti and Brancusi, his music is complex, dramatic and often enigmatic. The intricate internal structures of his works are concealed by a seemingly impulsive nature. During the 1980s he worked primarily in complex soundworlds, while since the 1990s the dense textures have often been offset by Feldmanesque moments of calm, that Holt refers to as ‘still centres’.

Career highlights

• 1978–82 – studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Anthony Gilbert
  Anthony Gilbert
  Anthony Gilbert may refer to:*Anthony Gilbert *Anthony Gilbert *Anthony Gilbert -See also:*Tony Gilbert, Antonio Gilbert, American football player...
  
  .
• 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
  Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival
  The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival is held in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It has a repertoire of cutting-edge jazz, orchestral, choral and electroacoustic performances, along with film, dance and music theatre...
  
  .
• 2001 – Le Prix de la Fondation Prince Pierre, Monaco for Sunrise’ yellow noise.
• 2002 – Ivor Novello Classical Music Award for Boots of Lead.
• 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
  BBC National Orchestra of Wales
  The BBC National Orchestra of Wales is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisation in Wales, occupying a dual role as both a broadcasting orchestra and national orchestra.The BBC NOW has its...
  
  .
• 2009 – British Composer Award (Orchestral) for A Table of Noises.

Key works

• Kites for ensemble (1983)
• Canciones for voice and ensemble (1986)
• Syrensong for orchestra (1987)
• Lilith for ensemble (1990)
• walking with the river's roar for viola and orchestra (1990–1991, revised 2006)
• The Nightingale’s to Blame, Opera (1998)
• Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?
  Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?
  WHO PUT BELLA IN THE WITCH ELM is a graffito that started appearing soon after a 1941 unsolved murder. The graffiti was last sprayed onto the side of a 200 year-old obelisk on 18 August 1999, in white paint...
  
  , Musical Theatre (2002)
• the other side of silence for flute, viola and harp (2004)
• Mantis for viola solo (2005)
• a table of noises, Concerto for percussion (2007)
• Troubled Light for orchestra (2008)
• Centauromachy, Double Concerto for clarinet in A and flugelhorn (2009)

Selected recordings

• Canciones; …era madrugada; Shadow Realm; Sparrow Night – NMC D008
• Boots of Lead; eco-pavan; Kites; Lilith; Feet of clay – NMC D094
• Tauromaquia; a book of colours; Black Lanterns; Klop's Last Bite; Nigredo – NMC D128
• Maïastra – Metier MSV CD92063

External links

• Simon Holt's homepage at Chester Music