Hannah Kendall (born 1984 in London) is a British composer currently based in New York.

Background and career

Kendall grew up in

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, where her mother is the head teacher in a primary school. 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. Kendall attended the

University of Exeter , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

where she majored in vocal studies and composition, studying with

Joe Duddell Joe Duddell (born 26 July 1972)
profile at Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

, studying with

Kenneth Hesketh Kenneth Hesketh (born 20 July 1968) is a British composer of contemporary classical music in numerous genres including dance, orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo. He has also composed music for wind and brass bands as well as seasonal music for ...

, as well as arts management at the

Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama , image_name = Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.jpg , image_size = , motto = , established = 1949 , type = Public , staff = , vice_chancellor = , students = 779 (2017/18) , undergrad ...

. In 2015, Kendall was noted as one of the "brilliant female composers under the age of 35". She featured on BBC Radio 3's ''

Composer of the Week ''Composer of the Week'' is a long-running biographical music programme produced by BBC Cymru Wales and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. It is broadcast daily from Monday to Friday at 12 noon for an hour, each week's programmes being a self-containe ...

''. 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 ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

. Also in 2015 Kendall won a 'Women of the Future Award' in the Arts and Culture category. 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 Martin Wylde Carter (7 June 1927 – 13 December 1997) was a Guyanese poet and political activist. Widely regarded as the greatest Guyanese poet, and one of the most important poets of the Caribbean region, Carter is best known for his p ...

in the then British Guiana in 1953 was premiered in 2016 at the Roundhouse. Her piece ''The Spark Catchers'' premiered at the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

in August 2017 and is inspired by the work of poet

Lemn Sissay Lemn Sissay FRSL (born 21 May 1967) is a British author and broadcaster. Sissay was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, has been chancellor of the University of Manchester since 2015, and joined the Foundling Museum's board of trus ...

. The performance was released on CD by NMC in January 2020.NMC Recordings: Hannah Kendall
/ref> Kendall returned to the Proms for the delayed first night of live music (due to the pandemic) on 28 August 2020 with the world premiere of ''Tuxedo: Vasco 'de' Gama'' for orchestra, inspired by the work of the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Kendall received the 2022

Hindemith Prize The international Paul Hindemith Prize promotes outstanding contemporary composers within the framework of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (SHMF). The award commemorates the musical pedagogy of Paul Hindemith, who wrote the composition ''P ...

for music composition which is awarded to outstanding composers as part of the

Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival is a classical music festival held each summer throughout the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986 by German concert pianist Justus Frantz. In 2006, the 2 ...

. Kendall has worked for both the Barbican and

London Music Masters Music Masters (formerly London Music Masters/LMM) is a UK-based music education charity which works with schools, teachers and arts organisations with the aim of making music accessible to all. Founded in 2007, Music Masters provides teaching, m ...

charity in arts management roles. She is currently on the DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) programme at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York as Dean's Fellow. Kendall received two

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...

nominations at The Ivors Classical Awards 2023. ''Even sweetness can scratch the throat'', for chamber ensemble was nominated for Best Chamber Ensemble Composition and ''Shouting forever into the receiver'', for 17 players, was nominated for Best Large Ensemble Composition.

Selected works

Orchestral and large ensemble works

* ''Citygates'' (2011) (large ensemble) * ''Shard'' (2012) * ''Kanashibari'' (2013) (inspired by the experience of

sleep paralysis Sleep paralysis is a state, during waking up or falling asleep, in which one is conscious but is completely paralyzed. During an episode, one may hallucinate (hear, feel, or see things that are not there), which often results in fear. Episod ...

) * ''The Great Dark'' (2013) (large ensemble) * ''The Spark Catchers'' (2017) * ''Baptistry'' (2018) * ''Disillusioned Dreamer'' (2018) * ''Verdala'' (2018) (large ensemble) * ''weaves flowers and leaves'' (2019) * ''Nexus'' (2020) * ''Tuxedo: Vasco 'de' Gama'' (2020)

Chamber and solo works

* ''Incident'' (text by

Fleur Adcock Fleur Adcock (born 10 February 1934) is a New Zealand poet and editor, of English and Northern Irish ancestry, who has lived much of her life in England. She is well-represented in New Zealand poetry anthologies, was awarded an honorary doc ...

) for soprano and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

* ''Labyrinthine'' for two

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 regu ...

s and two

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

s * ''On the Chequer'd Field Array'd'' for piano * ''Processional'' for piano * ''The Unreturning'' (text by

Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was much influenced b ...

) for

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

and mixed ensemble

Choral works

* ''Fundamental'' (text by

Rick Holland Rick Holland is an English poet and independent artist. He was born in Aldershot in 1978. Published work His first book 'Story the Flowers' was made at Calvert's Co-Operative Press in Bethnal Green in 2010. The work is constructed within the tra ...

) for

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

and

brass quintet A brass quintet is a five-piece musical ensemble composed of brass instruments. The instrumentation for a brass quintet typically includes two trumpets or cornets, one French horn, one trombone or euphonium/baritone horn, and one tuba or bass t ...

* ''Regina Caeli'' for a cappella chorus

Operas

* ''The Knife of Dawn'' (text by Tessa McWatt) for solo baritone, 2 sopranos, alto, violin, viola,

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

and harp

References

External links

*
Performance of ''Tuxedo: Vasco ‘de’ Gama'', BBC Proms, 28 August 2020
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kendall, Hannah 1984 births Living people British women classical composers British classical composers Alumni of the University of Exeter Alumni of the Royal College of Music Composers from London 21st-century English women musicians 21st-century British composers 21st-century women composers English people of Guyanese descent