Surrey composer awarded gift to create new concerto
Wednesday 14 December 2011
An academic from the University of Surrey, the renowned composer Professor Stephen Goss, has received a donation by investment management company S. W. Mitchell Capital to spend time composing a new piano concerto.
The donation represents the passion and interest of Stuart Mitchell, founder of the boutique Investment Manager, for the work of Professor Goss who has had a diverse career to date and has had his music performed in venues around the world including the Lincoln Centre in New York, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and London’s South Bank Centre.
Speaking of the donation, Stuart Mitchell commented: “We are very excited to be able to give Steve the opportunity to compose a piano concerto. He is a wonderful musician whose music I was first introduced to five years ago at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey.”
Professor Goss’s talents in composition and performance have seen him recorded on over 40 CDs by more than a dozen record labels, including EMI, Decca, Naxos, Telarc and Deutsche Grammophon. His recent commissions have come from: guitarist John Williams, Xuefei Yang and David Russell, cellist Natalie Clein, flautist William Bennett, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and The Barcelona Symphony Orchestra. As a guitarist, Stephen Goss has worked with many of today’s leading composers, such as Toru Takemitsu, Hans Werner Henze and Elliott Carter.
“This is a generous gift for a truly talented musician,” explains Chris Gethin Director of Development and Alumni Relations. “We are grateful to S. W. Mitchell Capital for the donation which will allow Professor Goss to spend time over the next two years creating a new piano concerto. We look forward to seeing, and hearing, the results.”
Media Enquiries
Mike Findlay, Press Office at the University of Surrey, Tel: +44 (0)1483 686076 , or Email m.findlay@surrey.ac.uk
