William Gardiner (Australian composer)

William Gardiner (born in 1986) is an Australian composer of electronic and acoustic music. Gardiner is known for his works in chamber music, symphony orchestra, and classical music ensembles in addition to his electronic compositions. His most notable works are Hebbian Theory, Prism (for string orchestra) and Hedgehog. His song titled Little Room was performed in Lisa Moore’s From Me to You showcase tour in 2014; and William himself composed pieces in an assortment of orchestra concerts towards the end of 2014 and into 2015.

Biography

William Gardiner was born in Sydney, Australia into a family of early musical aficionados.^[1] He performed in classical music ensembles and also was a member of a rock band when he attended high school. William commonly played the violin and drums when he was younger, and later moved on to playing the guitar, piano (reworked piano) and composed electronic sound using technology.^[2] It was his involvement in music during high school that led him to compose his own music.^[3] He studied art and law at University of Sydney, and later left Australia to study at Yale University to earn his Doctorate degree in music- under the mentoring of David Lang. William was influenced by classical composers such as Bach, Astor Piazzolla, Latvian Pēteris Vasks, George Crumb and Alfred Schnittke; and was also inspired by his the works of his fellow Australian composers Matthew Hindson, Paul Stanhope, Anne Boyd, Michael Smetanin and Damien Ricketson.^[1] He then moved to New York to continue pursuing music- following the influential styles of artists like Animal Collective, Do Make Say Think, and Fausto Romitelli.^[1]

Works

• Hebbian Theory^[4] is a composition of three movements (I. Hebbian Theory, II. Soma, and III. Long-Term Potentiation) for amplified clarinet, violin, and piano trio. On October 2, 2014, this piece was performed live at Morse Recital Hall, Yale University by Gleb Kanasevich (clarinet), Ludek Wojtkowski (violin), and Miki Sawada (piano).
• Hedgehog^[5] was composed in 2012 for electric guitar, large amplified ensemble, and signal processing
• Arion^[6] is a musical piece for an orchestra that was composed in 2012.
• Prism^[7] is a piece for a string orchestra that was composed in 2012.
• Wish^[8] is a piece to be performed by a string quartet and is composed of three movements. This piece was developed in 2012.
• Cirrus^[9] was performed live at the Bang On a Can Summer Festival in Mass Mo CA in 2014.
• Onliving^[10] is a composition of four movements (I. Reverie, II. The Loving Bells, III. Running, and IV. Return) and was created in 2010.

Recognition

In 2015, William Gardiner was awarded the '13 MM, '15 MMA of the National Composition Contest by American Composers Forum.^[11]

On July 20, August 9, and August 15 of 2014, Lisa Moore performed her showcase titled Lisa Moore: From Me to You where Lisa performed Gardiner’s piece, Little Room, for speaking/singing electronics and pianists at the Centre for New Music in San Francisco (July 20, 2014), Dolphin Theatre in Perth, West Australia (August 9, 2014), and Melbourne Recital Center in Melbourne, Victoria (August 15, 2014).^[12]

On October 2, 2014, Gardiner premiered his piece Hebbian Theory at the Morse Recital Hall in New Haven, Connecticut.^[12]

On April 29 and 30 of 2015, William performed his orchestral arrangement of “Goldmines” by Josh Pyke at the Concert Hall in Sydney Opera House.^[12]

On May 10, 2015, he performed his piece called Hedgehog for electric guitar and a large chamber ensemble with fellow musician Jiyeon Kim on the guitar. This piece was performed at the Curtis Institute of Music during the Curtis Institute of Music’s recital.^[12]

September 11, 2015, was the premiere of New Work by Wild Up Modern Music Collective at the Roy and Edna Disney/Calarts Theater (REDCATS). This piece was accepted by the American Composers Forum^[13] as a piece to their 2015 National Composition Contest.^[12]

William Gardiner was sponsored by the Ian Potter Cultural Trust ^[14] to attempt to raise $7,000 to enter upon earning a Masters of Music in composition and work with David Lang for a year. The project dates ran from August 2011 to May 2012.^[14]

References