Hannah Kendall
Hannah Kendall (born 1984 in London) is a British composer.[1]
Background and education
Kendall grew up in Wembley, where her mother is the head teacher in a primary school.[1] One of two children, her parents are originally from Guyana. Her grandfather was a jazz musician and her family stimulated her interest in the creative arts.[1] Kendall attended the University of Exeter where she majored in vocal studies and composition. She also gained a Masters at the Royal College of Music and studied arts management at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.[2]
In 2015, Kendall was noted as one of the "brilliant female composers under the age of 35".[3] She featured on BBC Radio 3's Composer of the Week.[4] All five composers of the week were women and this was part of Radio 3’s International Women’s Day celebrations, which were highlighted in The Guardian.[5]
Her one-man chamber opera The Knife of Dawn, with a libretto by Tessa McWatt and based on the incarceration of political activist Martin Carter in the then British Guiana in 1953 was premiered in 2016 at the Roundhouse.[6][7]
In 2015 Kendall won a 'Women of the Future Award' in the Arts and Culture category.[8] Her piece The Spark Catchers premiered at the Proms in August 2017 and is inspired by the work of Lemn Sissay.[1]
Kendall has worked for both the Barbican and London Music Masters charity in arts management roles.[1]
Selected works
Orchestral and large ensemble works
- Kanashibari for chamber orchestra, inspired by the experience of sleep paralysis
- The Great Dark for large ensemble
- The Spark Catchers for orchestra
Chamber and Solo works
- Incident (text by Fleur Adcock) for soprano and piano
- Labyrinthine for two violins and two violas
- On the Chequer'd Field Array'd for piano
- The Unreturning (text by Wilfred Owen) for tenor and mixed ensemble
Choral works
- Fundamental (text by Rick Holland) for chorus and brass quintet
- Regina Caeli for a cappella chorus
Operas
References
- Maddocks, Fiona (20 August 2017). "Hannah Kendall: 'I'm a millennial composer! I have to make money to survive'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
- "Biography". Hannah Kendall homepage. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- "'You can't be a composer, you're a girl'. Radio 3 fights back". Telegraph. 10 March 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
- "Composer of the Week". BBC. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- "Women composers: genius is gender blind – and so should we be". The Guardian. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
- "Hannah Kendall". Funding New Music. PRS for Music Foundation. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- "The Knife of Dawn". Hannah Kendall homepage. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- "Women of the Future". Women of the Future. Retrieved 11 June 2016.