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Listen & Watch

Anchor 11

(I Love You) For Instrumental Reasons (2023-24)

 

For Speaker, Flute, Bass Clarinet, Percussion,

Piano/Celeste, Violin, Cello, 5 Performers, Electronics,

Video, Staging, and Audience

Duration: c. 80-90 minutes

Debut concert from Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium, Copenhagen. Included as one of the '6 hjerter' cultural highlights of 2024 in Danish newspaper Politiken.

Performances:

MINU_festival_for_expanded_music,

(I Love You) For Instrumental Reasons,

Konservatoriets Koncertsal, 27/11/24 (premiere)

Performed by Antonios Akrivopoulos (Flute), Mathilde Schelin (Bass Clarinet), Katerina Anagnostidou (Percussion),

Christoffer Breman (Percussion), Nikolaus von Bemberg (Piano/Celeste), Sólrún Ylfa Ingimarsdóttir (Violin),

Symeon Seraphim (Cello), Current Resonance (Livestock -

Dylan Richards, Joss Smith, Matthew Grouse),

Gustav Bjerre (Riddare) Mikkel Schou (Döden),

Michael Hope (Himself)

My debut concert from Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium represents a much-needed return to normality; low-risk, high yield, an antidote to our societal regression into a culture of death. After all, you cannot continue working if you are dead. Only sound enjoyers welcome. There will be no theories critiqued, no prophesies deciphered,

no questions answered. And by the end, hopefully,

you will have learnt to love me.

Hover over text for

further information

on selected works

Anchor 12

Si vous me regardez... (2023)

 

For Performer, Ensemble,

and Live Electronics

Duration: c. 15 minutes

Presented by Ensemble Modern as part of

ICCS young_professionals 2023/24

Performances:

cresc...Biennale für aktuelle Musik, ICCS young_professionals,

Frankfurt LAB, Frankfurt, 25/02/24 (premiere)

Performed by Ensemble Modern & Michael Hope

Portraiture is power; these portraits are mutable, malleable, fragmented, unfinished, open; verbs rather than nouns, polyvocal potentialities informing and constructing one other, melting and crashing together, destruction as creation.

(Com)posing is deception, exposure, disruption, vulnerability.

You too might sense that you are being observed, rendered, framed, contemplated and critiqued. When observing a portrait, one often perceives the eyes (and ears) following you around the room.

Anchor 13

À la carte (2022-23)

 

For 4 Performers, Playback, Lights, and Staging

Duration: c. 23 minutes

Part of À la carte, a concert curated by myself,

also including works by Fraz Ireland, Neo Hülcker,

Caitlin Rowley, and Alexandra Hallén.

Cited as 'Concert of the year 2023' in Seismograf Magazine.

Performances:

Radikal Jung Festival 2024, À la carte,

Münchner Volkstheater, Munich, 23-24/04/24 (3 performances)

MINU_festival_for_expanded_music, À la carte,

KU.BE, Copenhagen 19/11/23 (premiere)

All performed by Current Resonance (Dylan Richards, Joss Smith, Matthew Grouse, Michael Hope)​​

 

 

 

Four diners attend a hyperreal dinner party overshadowed by the suspicion of a murder mystery. But was there really a murder

after all? Is there even a mystery?

Anchor 14

NICE FACE (2022)

 

For Performer, Playback, and Slideshow

Duration: c. 5 minutes

Commissioned by KLANG Festival 2023 as part of

the solo concert performance How not to Shout

Performances:

AUT presents - Current Resonance: Song of the Data Angel,

UngK, Aarhus, 24/03/24

 

Pulsar Festival, Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium, 07/03/24

KLANG Festival, How not to Shout, Den Sorte Diamant, Copenhagen, 01/06/23

cute animals (FOOTAGE), Metronomen,

Copenhagen, 05/05/23 (premiere)

All performed by Michael Hope

Inspired by the study "Dimorphous Expressions of Positive Emotion: Displays of Both Care and Aggression in Response to Cute Stimuli”, the performer monosyllabically assesses the merits of various cute animals shown via slideshow, inevitably responding to them with both care and aggression.

Anchor 15

maeLstroM (2022)

 

For Conductor & Playback

Duration: c. 10 minutes

Commissioned by KLANG Festival 2023 as part of

the solo concert performance How not to Shout

Performances:

Pulsar Festival, Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium, 07/03/24

 

KLANG Festival, How not to Shout, Den Sorte Diamant, Copenhagen, 01/06/23

cute animals (FOOTAGE), Metronomen,

Copenhagen, 05/05/23 (premiere)

All performed by Michael Hope

The conductor prepares the ensemble, gives a series of dramatic upbeats,

before silent stabs, gestures, waves and spins ensue and accumulate towards a chaotic complexity.

Anchor 1

Sketchbook (2021)

 

For Compère, Piano, E. Guitar, Cello, Percussion,

Diffused Audio, Video, and Staging

Duration: c. 80-100 minutes

Commissioned by K!ART Ensemble

Performances:

MINU_festival_for_expanded_music, Sketchbook,

Christianshavns Beboerhus, 21/11/21 (premiere)

 

Performed by K!ART (Mikkel Schou, Iiris Tötterström,

Hsiao Tung Yuan, Rob Durnin) & Michael Hope

Sketchbook, Musikhuset Aarhus, 02/04/22

Sketchbook, KoncertKirken, 05/04/22 

Performed by K!ART (Mikkel Schou, Ida Nørby,

Hsiao Tung Yuan, Rob Durnin) & Michael Hope

Anchor 9

Sketchbook is a space for play.

 

Sketchbook recognises the concert experience as an inherently playful one; a mimetic space which plays out towards a necessarily autotelic conclusion.

 

In Sketchbook, performers play games, play videos, play recordings, play to win, play both

real and fictional characters, and even, perhaps,

play instruments.

 

Sketchbook is a space for play.

 

Thank you and welcome to Sketchbook.

*danceD (2020-21)

 

For Flute (dbl. Piccolo) , Clarinet (dbl. Bass Clarinet), Piano,

Cello, Two Performers, Playback, Lights, and Slide Projector

Duration: c. 30 minutes

Performances:

The Real Imitation,  Musikhuset Aarhus, 03/11/21 (premiere)

Performed by Johanne Buus Andersen (Flute), Joss Smith (Bb Clarinet, Mathilde Schelin (Bass Clarinet, Maria Eshpai (Piano), Malthe Volfing Højager (Cello), Noemi Schrader (Performer)

& Michael Hope (Projectionist)

"The best things happen while you're eating madeleines in Combray"

Anchor 4

Johann_____You (2019-20)

 

For Chamber Orchestra

Duration: c. 14 minutes

Commissioned by Aarhus Sinfonietta 

Performances:

Panorama Festival: Århus Sinfonietta+,

Skt Lukas Kirke Aarhus, 15/11/20 (premiere)

Performed by Aarhus Sinfonietta & students from

Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium

Conducted by Rei Munakata

Recent scientific studies show that listening to music makes people happy – but I’ve known that for years! I always see people looking happy, even radiant, because they’re listening to my music.

Not only are they singing along with all their heart but they’re constantly crying, hugging and kissing each other, forgetting all the rest of the world.

And that’s all due to the fantastic magical power

of music! I hope I can carry on making you happy with my music for a long time to come.

Anchor 2

Born/Again (2019)

 

For Solo Piano, Video and Playback

Duration: c.15 minutes

Performances:

Pulsar Festival 2023, with and without strings,

Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium, 10/03/23

MINU_festival_for_expanded_music,

Spectres of _______, Christianshavns Beboerhus, 20/11/21

 

Pulsar Festival 2020, Current Resonance,

Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium, 11/03/20

Current Resonance Festival «3» Born/Again____,

Musikhuset Aarhus, 24/10/19 (premiere)

All performed by Michael Hope

As a musician one has a lot of feelings, but how

does one put those feelings together without

losing impact? A homage to nature which follows the performer on a serene and spiritual journey

as they seek to discover ‘true’ musical

expression and emotion.

Anchor 5

Six videos of alt-right propaganda but

each time a millennial gets offended

the distortion increases by 4% (2018-19)

 

For Amplified Clarinet in B-flat, Trombone, Drum Kit,

Electric Piano, Cello, Live Electronics, and Video

Duration: c. 18 minutes

Performances:

Ung Nordisk Musik 2021: The Voice,

Musikhuset Aarhus, 14/08/21

Performed by Joss Smith (Clarinet), Christian Tscherning Larsen (Trombone), Lorenzo Colombo (Drum Kit), Fei Nei (Electric Piano), & Malthe Volfing Højager (Cello) 

 

Panorama Festival 2019 Kaleidoscope II,

Musikhuset Aarhus, 09/03/19 (premiere)

Performed by Joss Smith (Clarinet), Mette Nielsen (Trombone),

Carl David Österberg (Drum Kit), Sofus Preisel (Electric Piano),

& Maria Kolby Sonstad (Cello) 

“Is it not a sign of despair over public politics when identity becomes its own policy, bringing with it those who would ‘police’ it from various sides? And this is not a call to return to silence or invisibility, but, rather, to make use of a category that can be called into question, made to account for what it excludes.”

Judith Butler, Imitation and Gender Insubordination, quoted by ContraPoints, May 2018.

”I make new rules and they obey

They must do whatever I say.”

Robbie Rotten, It’s Fun To Be The Mayor, Lazy Town (Season 2, Episode 4).

Anchor 3

Regnklang: A Survey of Rain Sounds (2019)

 

For Guitar, Alto Saxophone, Playback, and live ‘Rain’

Duration: 18 minutes

Commissioned by Duo Regnklang and AUT

Performances:

Ocean of Sound #5: Viral Spiral + CR Hougaard + Hyper Amplified, Radar, 06/12/20

Performed by Anja Nedremo (Alto Saxophone)

& Jakob Bangsø (Guitar)

 

Current Resonance «2»,

Musikhuset Aarhus 24/08/19 (premiere)

Performed by Elisa Lapan (Alto Saxophone)

& Tobias Krebs (Guitar)

Anchor 6

Symphonification

Version 1 (Esbjerg Edition) (2019)

 

For changeable ensemble

Duration: N/A

Performances:

Esbjerg Ensemble Workshopkoncert,

Syddansk Musikkonservatorium, 10/05/19 (premiere)

Performed by Esbjerg Ensemble & Michael Hope

Anchor 10

helpful smAAaAck/comBbiNnEedD sSlurp (2018/21)

 

For Two Pairs of Performers and Objects

Duration: 9 minutes

Performances:

Double Duos, Metronomen, Copenhagen, 20/06/22

Double Duos, Dokk 1, Aarhus, 24/06/22 

Performed by Current Resoncance

 

Nordic Saxophone Festival 2019, Musikhuset Aarhus, 14/04/19

Performed by Kevin Shen & Michael Hope

 

Panorama @ SPLAB, Jutland Art Academy, 08/03/19 (premiere)

Performed by Dylan Richards & Michael Hope

"They Rolled and Rolled like the Sea" (2017)

 

For Alto Saxophone, Percussion, Piano and Orchestra

Duration: c. 10 minutes

Performances:

Brand New Day Concert,

Royal Northern College of Music, 27/04/17 (premiere)

Performed by Isobel Williams (Alto Saxophone), Aaron Breeze (Piano), Elizabeth Brightwell-Gibbons (Percussion)

& the Brand New Day Orchestra

Conducted by Tom Goff

Anchor 8

Failure Means a Drowning Death (2017)

 

For Solo Piano and 12 Stage Hands

Duration: c. 20 minutes

Commissioned by Aaron Breeze

Performances:

Exposure Piano Recital,

International Anthony Burgess Foundation, 14/11/16 (premiere)

Performed by Aaron Breeze

On His Hands (2014/2017)

 

For Solo Guitar

Duration: c. 20 minutes

Commissioned by Owen Bunting

Performances:

Composer’s Concert, Royal Northern College of Music,

07/06/17 (premiere)

Performed by Owen Bunting

The Glory of the Human Voice (2017)

 

For Diffused Electronics

Duration: c. 7 minutes

Performances:

DIEM Elektro: Sound Diffusion Concert,

Musikhuset Aarhus, 14/02/19 (premiere)

Diffused Live by Michael Hope

What You Hear Is Not A Test (2017)

 

For Big Band

Duration: c. 5 minutes

Performances:

RNCM Jazz Collective Concert,

Royal Northern College of Music, 12/05/17 (premiere)

Performed by the RNCM Jazz Collective

Conducted by Mike Hall

Wither (2016)

 

For Flute, Clarinet, Percussion, Celesta, Violin, Viola and Cello

Duration: c. 9 minutes

Commissioned by New Music North West

Performances:

New Music North West,

Royal Northern College of Music, 28/01/16 (premiere)

Performed by the RNCM New Ensemble

Dublinesque (2015)

 

For Soprano Soloist and String Orchestra

Duration: c. 7 minutes

Performances:

Brand New Day Concert,

Royal Northern College of Music, 08/10/15 (premiere)

Performed by Joanna Harries (Soloist)

& the Brand New Day Orchestra 

Conducted by Adam Kornas

Recordings Available on Request

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Double Reflection (2024)

 

For Performer

Duration: c. 5 minutes

Performances:

SPOR Festival 2024, Asking People To Do Things,

Åbne Scene, Aarhus, 25/05/24 (premiere)

(Performed simultaneously with forum by Dylan Richards)

Performed by Michael Hope

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Classified (2023)

 

For Voice & Playback

Duration: c. 5 minutes

Commissioned by KLANG Festival 2023 as part of

the solo concert performance How not to Shout

Performances:

KLANG Festival, How not to Shout, Den Sorte Diamant, Copenhagen, 01/06/23 (premiere)

Performed by Michael Hope

klang//farben//melodie (2020)

 

For Diffused Audio & Video

Duration: 12 minutes (3x 4 minutes)

Performances:

MINU_festival_for_expanded_music, Modern Cinema, Cinemateket, Copenhagen, 30/11/21

Modern Cinema, Musikhuset Aarhus, 09/06/21 (premiere)

Anchor 7

This Girl Will Dream of Sleep

(Installation Version) (2017/19)

 

For Electronics and ‘Scene’

Duration: c. 90 minutes

Performances:

RAMA Festival 2019 30/03/19, Musikhuset Aarhus (premiere)

IMG_8574.jpeg

Into the Mudflats (2016)

 

For Soprano Soloist, Violin, Bassoon, Percussion and Piano

Duration: c. 8 minutes

Text by Mark Pajak

Performances:

Rosamund Prize Concert,

Royal Northern College of Music, 25/04/16 (premiere)

Fresh, For the Opening of the Morning’s Eye (2015)

For Saxophone Quartet

Duration: c. 5 minutes

Performances:

RNCM Chamber Music Festival,

Royal Northern College of Music, 06/03/16 (premiere)

Carousels on Route 50 (2015)

For Flute, Alto Saxophone, Violin and Cello

Duration: c. 5 minutes

…but it moved too fast (2014)

For Brass Quartet

(Cornet, Tenor Horn, Baritone Horn, Euphonium)

Duration: c. 5 minutes

Silent Fires (2014)

For Flute, Oboe, Alto Saxophone and String Trio

Duration: c. 5 minutes

© Michael Hope 2023

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