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Composer

Henry McPherson

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About Henry

Composer, Performer, Improviser, and Music Teacher.
Composer
Barnoldswick
Public liability insurance of £10 million

Henry McPherson (he/him) is a musician and artist working across composition, improvisation, and pedagogical practices. His creative portfolio includes sound and music for concert, stage, and broadcast, site-specific pieces and gallery installation, experimental improvisation performance in sound and movement, and collaborative intermedia and hybrid-digital art pieces. His work has been shown internationally across diverse settings – from concert halls to galleries, from bathrooms to dance studios, from parks and warehouses to cafes, virtual halls and radio. His current creative interests lie in the intersections of improvisation performance and ecology, knowledge exchange and collaboration with the more-than-human, integrated sound and movement practices, and illustrated notation. He currently lives and works in East Lancashire. COMPOSITION Henry’s compositions have been performed and recorded by acclaimed artists and ensembles such as the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Red Note Ensemble, Decibel, Ensemble Modern, Ronan Whittern, Yiyang Zhao, the Glasgow New Music Expedition, Zilan Liao (Pagoda Arts/Psappha Ensemble), Brian Bromberg, Trio Arcania, Alice Allen, the Glasgow New Music Expedition, BRUTALUST Duo, the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, Scottish Opera, and Garth Knox, among others. His work has been showcased: at events including hcmf// (Huddersfield), PLUG festival (Glasgow), FLUID Festival (Birmingham), 21st Century Guitar Conference (Muncie, IN), New Music Room (Berlin/Kuala Lumpur), Glasgow Experimental Music Series, Dag in der Branding (NL), The New Together (NGallery, GR); in broadcast on BBC Radio 3 (Late Junction, Freeness), BBC iPlayer, Radio Dordogne (FR), Cartopodes (CH), Radiophrenia (Glasgow), Transmission Radio (Birmingham), The Sampler Mixtape on Resonance.fm (London), in sound installation at the Fruitmarket Gallery (Edinburgh), Despina Gallery (Rio de Janiero), Fringe Arts Bath, Galérie Analix Forever (Geneva, CH), and in digital installations at NY20+ Gallery (Chengdu, China), "Apropos of Aesthetics" Virtual Reality Exhibition, (2021), the Gathering Zine (RAM, London Design Museum), and the MASS Collection (UK). PERFORMANCE A versatile instrumentalist and vocalist, Henry appears regularly as a performer in free improvisation/free jazz, contemporary and experimental performance practice. Moving from the piano to the microphone, from the recorder to the viola, and into the kinetic, Henry enjoys the interweaving of sound and movement expressions in holistic, embodied, spontaneous performances. Henry champions improvisation as an inherently social practice, with the power to break down both aesthetic and societal barriers to enable access and participation in performance making to diverse communities. His collaged studio improvisations have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Freeness, with audiovisual broadcasts at ImprovFest (Canada), Mopomoso TV (London), and Jefferson Park EXP (Chicago). He has appeared recently alongside artists such as Maggie Nicols, Steve Beresford, the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra with Alex Hawkins and the Noisebringers, David Birchall, Odie Ji Ghast, BRUTALUST Duo, Raymond MacDonald, Saadet Türköz, Dejana Seculić, Linda Jankowska, Jessica Argo, Weston Olencki, the Noisy Women, Charlotte Keefe, Stanford Cheung, PA Tremblay, Christophe Schweizer, Xina Hawkins , the Genetic Choir, and with dance artists Kirstie Simson, Michael Schumacher, David Zambrano, Skye Reynolds, and Sky Su.

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8th Anniversary
This act has been working with Encore for over 8 years
Musicianship
Genres:
Contemporary classical, Classical, Baroque, Classical crossover, Medieval music, Renaissance, Opera, Musical theatre, Early music, Fanfare, Film / TV music, Avant garde, Experimental, Pop, Acoustic, Ambient pop, Americana, Covers, Disco, Funk, Funk rock, Hip Hop, Karaoke, Motown, R&B, Soul, Top 40, Tribute, Vintage, Easy listening, 1930s era music, 1920s era music, 1940s era music, Noise music
See all genres
Instruments:
See all instruments
Event types:
Concert, Wedding, Wedding proposal, Funeral / Memorial service, Church service, Hotel / Restaurant event, Bar / Club / Venue event, Private event, Corporate event, Charity event, Recording session, Theatre / Show, Burns night, Birthday party, Christmas party, New Year's Eve
See all event types
Other skills:
Arranger, Orchestrator, Composer, Transcription, Fluent improviser, Instrumental teaching, Theory teaching, Singing teaching, Composition teaching, Lyricist, Accompanist
See all skills

Henry's Song list

Caoineadh (Keening Song) | Cello and String Orchestra | c. 9 minutes 30 seconds
String Quartet (in memoriam Béla Bartók) | String Quartet | c. 30 minutes
Interlunar | Solo Cello | c. 5 minutes
This, Here, Now: Invitations to Improvise | Paperback Book | eBook
Moss Gardens (No.3) | Solo Piano | c. 35 minutes
Moss Gardens (No.2) | Vln.x2, Vla.x2 | c. 18 minutes
Moss Gardens (No.1) | Harp, Tenor Recorder | c. 7 – 9 minutes
Apsida | Clarinet in Bb, Guitar | c. 10 minutes
121 Seven-Second Nocturnes for Learners | Solo Piano | c. 20 minutes
Vignettes | Collaged Improvisations (Single) | c. 9 minutes
Noise at the death of one beloved | Collaged Improvisations (Album) | c. 30 minutes
INTIMACIES (Film) | Audiovisual Film | c.40 minutes
2021
“as” over “is”: Manifesto of Transdisciplinary Free Improvisation | Text
How to play Marianas (Text Score) | Variable Ensemble | Variable duration
Blue Sky Improvisations | Ongoing recording series of sonic free improvisations with collaborators | Audio
F*g | Audiovisual work | c. 10 minutes
More Than One Thing (Installation) | Video Installation (c.8hrs) | Film
2020
Transformations | Poem | 32 lines
Doggerland | Poem | 18 lines
The colour of things | Audio | dictaphone and objects | c.60 minutes
Easter raises the dead | Recorded Instrumental for Maria Sappho's "Rocks I have Taken" Album | c.9m30seconds
INTIMACIES | Album of Vocal and Instrumental Improvisation | c.40 minutes
Cities/Staircases: scenes from the edge of the world (Visual) | Japanese Ink on Cartridge | 20x25cm
Flame Choreographies (Graphic Score) | Red Acrylic on Cartridge (Digitised) | 21.0x30cm
Revolutionary thoughts | Digital Installation (audio fragments) | Text
Seals (Sculpture) | Japanese Ink, Card, Pins, Gesso, Biro
Monument | Performance | Text | Variable Duration
The abusers of power united will never be defeated | Collaborative performance with Noisebringers, Colin Frank, Weston Olencki | c. 30 minutes
2019
Three Dreams at the End | Low Voice, Guitar | c. 15 minutes
Ear-Eye | Audiovisual Installation | c.10 minutes
Pavane | Single | 4m20seconds
Ecosystem I (Graphic Score) | Variable Ensemble | Variable Duration
Scores for Movement | Bodies and/or Objects | Variable Duration
Parchments: functional apparatus (Graphic Score) | Ensemble (1-3) | Variable Duration
Sigil | Solo Cello | c.4-10 minutes
Partita | Solo Piano | c.30 minutes
2018
Colagens//Collages (Installation/Album/Performance) | Tiles, Shower Curatin, Pink Furniture Paint, 8 x MP3 Players | Performance Duration c.45 minutes
Body (Text Score) | Text-score for Musician
Garden (Video Score) | Video Score | Paint on backlit LED
Smoke (fire), voice, mountain | Audio Album | Field Recording, Prepared Piano
Firefly Cycles (Video Score) | Mixed Strings and/or Mixed Voices | c.10 minutes
Oracle | Solo Bassoon | c.15 minutes
Studies in Black and White (Graphic Score) | Solo Piano or Variable Ensemble | Variable Duration
Opening Hands | Ten. Rec. or Fl., Cl., A. Sax., Tbn., Pno., Perc. x1, Vln., E. Gtr., Db. | c. 9 minutes
Pathways (Graphic Score) | Solo Instrument | c. 3 minutes
Wintersun | Solo Piano | c.4 – 15 minutes
Walking Piece (Text Score) | Variable Ensemble | Variable Duration
Cloud Forms | Solo Piano | c.10 minutes
Crocus | Solo Guzheng | c. 5 minutes
Studies on a straight line (Graphic Score) | Bowed String Instrument | Variable Duration
2017
Autumn Thoughts| Low Whistle in D, or Tenor Records | c.10 minutes
For Sylvia| Voice, Piano, Cello | c.45 minutes
Hellyys| Voice, Piano, Cello | c.20 minutes
The shape of my house| String Quartet | c.45 minutes
Maud (Opera) | Chamber Opera | Orchestra Soloists + Chorus (c.30) SATB | c. 15 minutes
Meditations | Chamber Quintet or Septet | c. 15 minutes
snow-constellation| Guitar Duo | c. 5 minutes
A thought of falling| Cl., Vib., Vln., Vc. | c. 14 minutes
2016
Death the Mother | Clarinet in Bb, Piano | c. 5 minutes
Jane the Quene| Mezzo-Soprano, Piano | c. 6 minutes
2015
Ūhte (Opera-Film)| Chorus + Symphony Orchestra | c.13 minutes
Book of Trees| Solo Piano | c. 15 minutes
Tides | Cl., Perc., Pno., Str 5tet | c.7m30seconds
2013
​Kindred | Violin, Viola | c. 10 minutes

Henry's Reviews

From customers:

MT
Michael H
5 years ago

“Character studies to touch the soul […] McPherson has music in him way beyond the notes.” – Michael Tumulty, the Herald, on Mannequin (2016)

KM
Kate M
9 years ago

“[The music] convincingly rides that disarming line between familiar and skewed. McPherson’s writing is confident, vivid and rich in atmosphere.” – Kate Mollesson, on Ūhte (2015)