Paul Whitty

Paul Whitty (born 1970) is an England-based experimental composer and sound artist born in Northern Ireland.

Biography

Paul Whitty was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, in 1970 and is currently Professor of Composition at Oxford Brookes University. He is a founder and director of the Sonic Art Research Unit (SARU). He studied with Roger Marsh, Magnus Lindberg, Colin Matthews, Vinko Globokar and Michael Finnissy.

His work has been performed by the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Expose, IXION, Michael Finnissy, [rout], Philip Howard, and Mieko Kanno amongst others, and his music has featured at festivals including Brighton, Ultima in Oslo, the Gaudeamus Music Week in Amsterdam, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the 54th Venice Biennale and at State Of The Nation in London. He has received awards, including from the Arts Council of England, AHRC, the Britten-Pears Foundation, and the British Council.

Paul Whitty is a founder, along with the composers Sam Hayden and Paul Newland, of the ensemble [rout], which has made concert tours in the UK, appearing on BBC Radio 3's contemporary music programme Hear and Now, on a BMIC Cutting Edge concert tour, at the ICA and at the Huddersfield Festival.

He is Professor in Composition; Research Lead for Film, Fine Art and Music; and a Director of the Sonic Art Research Unit at Oxford Brookes University and has been a visiting tutor in collaborative practice at Dartington College of Arts and the Laban Centre, London. He is a Director of audiograft, Oxford's Festival of experimental music and sound art, with Stephen Cornford. He is football director of Crowmarsh Revolution Youth Football Club (CRYFC) and constantly gets three points - occasionally four!

He has become increasingly interested in collaborative cross-disciplinary work methods, often involving on-site projects and installations. Projects have taken place at the Mecca State Bingo Hall in Kilburn, Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, and the office of Beaconsfield art gallery in Vauxhall.

Vauxhall Pleasure

One of Paul's more recent collaborative works Vauxhall Pleasure (2004-2009) with Anna Best consisted of a site event at Vauxhall Cross, London; an installation at the Museum of Garden History as part of their Tempered Ground exhibition, and two performances at Tate Britain. In November 2009 a concert version of the project took place at the Warehouse, London as part of the BMIC Cutting Edge Series, in the form of a film, an installation and a live performance.

Selected works

• .stop.direction.pause. (1998) for electric guitar, prepared piano and sampler
• bcnsfld (2000) a collaboration with [rout], dance company prang & Anna Best.
• on/off (2000) for electric guitar, double bass and short-wave radio
• input-output (2000) an installation in collaboration with Anna Best, presented at Beaconsfield Artspace, Vauxhall.
• Love (1999–2001) for soprano, electric guitar, double bass, sampler, mini-disc and piano
• erase (2001–2002) for steel-string guitar and alto/baritone saxophone
• take it or leave it (2002) for alto saxophone, violin, vibraphone and piano
• stop me if you think you've heard this one before (2002) for harpsichord
• in the midst of life we are in death etc. (2002) for electric violin, electric guitar, double bass, harpsichord, harmonium and sampler
• erase/rewind (2002–2003) two duos: (i) for steel-string guitar and alto/baritone saxophone; (ii) for cello duo
• Vauxhall Pleasure (2004-2009) site-specific event and installation in collaboration with Anna Best

External links

• Information on Vauxhall Pleasure
• Paul Whitty at Oxford Brookes
• (rout) homepage
• Sound Diaries project with Felicity Ford
• Sonic Art Research Unit