| Information: |
Eleanor Alberga has established herself in the mainstream of British contemporary music and enjoys an international reputation as a composer. Her music has been performed by many leading orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Bournemouth Sinfonietta, London Mozart Players and the Women's Philharmonic of San Francisco, and worldwide performances include Australia, South America, Canada, Europe and China. She was the first composer to be commissioned for the inaugural Festival of Women in Music. She was also invited to participate in the prestigious Composer to Composer Festival in Colorado, USA, and was a featured composer at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival. 2001 was a turning point, as she chose to give up her career as concert pianist and concentrate full-time on composition. She completed her violin concerto and was awarded a NESTA Fellowship. This major award enabled Alberga to further develop and experiment with her compositional techniques and ideas.
Alberga's route to composition has not been an orthodox one. Born in 1949, in Kingston, Jamaica, she began her musical career deciding, at the age of five, to be a concert pianist, and also started composing short pieces for herself. In 1970 she won the biennial Associated Board Scholarship, supporting her studies at the Royal Academy of Music, London. At various times a member of the Jamaican Folk Singers, an African dance company and later pianist and Music Director of London Contemporary Dance Theatre, she draws from a richly diverse musical background. Drama is an integral component, her music often described as tremendously exciting, and accessible.
|