Angharad Davies is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, known for her work in the field of free improvisation, her use of prepared violin (using techniques similar to the prepared piano), her extensive discography and collaborative work with other musicians.

Early life and education

Davies was born in

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

, Wales, and grew up in a musical household, playing in local brass bands alongside her father and brother. Her father was an amateur trumpet player and her brother is Rhodri Davies, now known as an improvising

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

ist. She studied at the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

and subsequently with violinists Charles-Andre Linale in Düsseldorf, Germany and Howard Davis in London.

Career

Davies has collaborated on improvised projects with musicians and artists including

Tarek Atoui Tarek Atoui (born 1980) is a contemporary artist and composer who is currently living in Paris. Based on research in music history and traditional music practices, his work reflects the notion of instrument, and how it interacts with listening, ...

Tony Conrad Anthony Schmalz Conrad (March 7, 1940 – April 9, 2016) was an American video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician, composer, sound artist, teacher, and writer. Active in a variety of media since the early 1960s, he was a pioneer of both d ...

Laura Cannell Laura Cannell is a British composer and improvising recorder player and violinist. Her work is known for combining the influences of early music, folk and experimental music. Her debut solo album ''Quick Sparrows over the Black Earth'' (2014), wa ...

, Jack McNamara, Roberta Jean and J.G.Thirlwell. Davies is also active in the field of contemporary composition and is a frequent member of the ensemble

Apartment House An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ...

. Davies' composed works include ''Solo Violin and Four Bass Amps'', in which the violin is deconstructed during the performance of the piece, and the orchestral work ''I ble’r aeth y gwrachod I gyd…?'', which was commissioned by the 2019 London Contemporary Music Festival. Davies has also collaborated with French composer

Éliane Radigue Éliane Radigue (born January 24, 1932) is a French electronic music composer. She began working in the 1950s and her first compositions were presented in the late 1960s. Until 2000 her work was almost exclusively created with the ARP 2500 modul ...

, who wrote the solo violin work ''OCCAM XXI'' for her in 2015.

Discography

Davies is credited with performances on over 50 album recordings, appearing alongside an extensive list of improvising musicians including Tom Chant, Benedict Drew, John Edwards,

Axel Dörner Axel Dörner (born 26 April 1964 in Cologne, Germany) is a German trumpeter, pianist, and composer. Biography Dörner studied piano in the Dutch town Arnhem (1988–89) and at the Music Academy in Cologne (1989–1996). From 1991 he studied t ...

, Johnny Chang, John Tilbury, Lina Lapelyte,

John Lely John Lely (born Norwich, England, in 1976) is British experimental composer, improvising musician and curator based in London, UK. His music has been commissioned and performed by musicians including Apartment House, Quatour Bozzini, violinist ...

, Rie Nakajima and Toshimaru Nakamura. As of 2020, Davies has appeared on twenty one albums on the UK improvised and experimental music label

Another Timbre Another Timbre is a record label, based in Sheffield and known for its releases of free improvisation, experimental and contemporary classical music. It was founded by television sound recordist Simon Reynell, who also engineers and produces most ...

. She is also credited with appearances on

The Magic Numbers The Magic Numbers are an English pop rock band consisting of two brother-and-sister pairs, from Hanwell in west London. The group was formed in 2002, releasing their debut album titled ''The Magic Numbers'' on 13 June 2005. Their follow-up alb ...

eponymous 2005 album and Richard Dawson's 2017 album ''Peasant''. Dawson described Davies' idiosyncratic violin playing on his album as “being like a layer of frost, or maybe dew, or maybe like a light fog, just clinging to everything”.

References

External links

Angharad Davies' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Angharad Welsh violinists 21st-century British composers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Welsh composers Alumni of the Royal Northern College of Music