Going from strength to strength, I caught up with composer and conductor, Benjamin Oliver.
What have you been up to since Sounds New last year?
It’s been a quite a busy year!
Over the summer, leading up to the performances in December, I was involved in the final stage of the International Composer Pyramid, run by Sounds New and Coups de Vent. I wrote a new piece for the competition, Prelude, Fugue and Riffs. I didn’t win this time but was delighted to be voted best piece by the audiences in the UK and France and also by the musicians playing the music!

Ben Oliver (second from right) and members of Workers Union at Sounds New in 2012
Apart from my composition work I also began a permanent position as Lectureship in Composition at the University of Southampton in October. I have worked in various roles at the University for a couple of years but it’s great to be working full-time and helping develop the new music activities within the music department.