Simon Proctor (born 1959) is a British

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 ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, known for his works for unusual instruments.Simon Proctor
, Warwick Music

Education

Proctor graduated from the Royal Academy of Music where he gained the GRSM degree, LRAM diploma in piano and several prizes for composition, orchestration and pian

Career

His best-known work, the Concerto for Serpent and Orchestra, was written in 1987 when the composer was attached to the University of South Carolina. Its premiere, with the soloist Alan Lumsden and the University of South Carolina Chamber Orchestra under Donald Portnoy, was at the First International Serpent Festival on 21 October 1989.

Douglas Yeo Douglas Yeo (born 1955) is an American bass trombonist who played in the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 2012, where he held the John Moors Cabot Bass Trombone Chair. He was also on the faculty of the New England Conservatory. In 2012 ...

performed it again on 31 March 1997 at

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...

, and then on 29 and 30 May 1997 with the

Boston Pops Orchestra The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symp ...

conducted by

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

, both in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Other compositions include his Concerto for

Keyed Bugle The Royal Kent bugle or keyed bugle is a variant of the bugle popular in the 19th century, especially in the English Army in 1856. Its six keys allow pitch to be controlled beyond that possible with a standard bugle. History The first known me ...

and Orchestra. The ''Amherst Suite'' also features the

serpent Serpent or The Serpent may refer to: * Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes Mythology and religion * Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature * Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts * Serp ...

. He composed a ''Jubilee Fanfare'' for the RHS Bicentennial, which was attended by the Duke of Edinburgh. He has also composed a great number of other works, including 26 concertos, and many works for solo piano including a seven-part fugue. He composed a symphony, which included a hand bell ensemble, for the

Lincoln Park Academy Lincoln Park Academy is a public magnet school located in Fort Pierce, Florida. Commonly referred to as simply "LPA", the school is academically geared, offering Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual-enrollment, and pre-engineering ...

Orchestra in 1998. He composed a ''James Bond'' Piano Concerto. This had its world premiere on 20 February 2010 in Cadogan Hall, London. It was performed by the London Gay Symphony Orchestra. Thomas Pandolfi was the solo pianist. Proctor is a graduate of the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

. He lives in Sevenoaks, Kent and teaches piano in several schools with Kent Music centre, and privately. He has performed solo piano recitals in the UK, Germany, USA and The Bahamas. Simon has played principal keyboard for Les Miserables and other shows, and has acted as musical director for other productions. He has made two CDs of his compositions, ''Sounds of Kent – Piano'' (recorded by 12-year-old Tyler Hay), and ''Sounds of Kent – Woodwind'' (recorded by the Pneuma Quintet, a wind quintet of students from the Royal Academy of Music). A movement from his Concerto for

Ophicleide The ophicleide ( ) is a family of conical-bore keyed brass instruments invented in early 19th century France to extend the keyed bugle into the alto, bass and contrabass ranges. Of these, the bass ophicleide in C or B took root over the cours ...

and Orchestra has been recorded by Nick Byrne and David Miller.Back from Oblivion
, Melba Recordings His Serpent Concerto was recorded by

on the CD ''Le Monde du Serpent''.

Works

*Rhapsody No. 17 (piano) *''Nocturne in Silver and Blue'' (piano) *''Paganini Metamorphosis'' (piano) *''Beauchamp Dances'' (piano) *''Windy City'' (piano) *''Windy City'' (symphonic concert band, dedicated to the College of Lake County Wind Ensemble) *''Euphonious Nocturne'' (piano) *''Nocturne at Lake Maggiore'' (piano) *Rhapsody No. 21 (piano) *''The Three of Harps'' (piano) *''Apex 101'' (piano) *''The Jester'' (flute, oboe, clarinet) *''Eos'' (alto saxophone, piano) *''Vögel I–XII'' (flute, piano) *''Pnuemusic'' (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon) *''Wippersnapper'' (piccolo, piano) *''Metamorphosis'' (piano trio consisting of piano, violin, cello) *''Hosedown'' (quintet of garden hoses of different lengths, played with brass instrument mouthpieces, in the style of a western hoe-down, dedicated to the Antioch Brass Quintet) *''Light Metal'' (suite for euphonium & tuba quartet, dedicated to the Heavy Metal Society quartet; also a version titled "Lighter Metal" for saxophone quartet) *''Amherst Suite'' (serpent ensemble) *''Miniatures at an Exhibition'' (a quick walk through Moussorgsky's "Pictures and an Exhibition" for euphonium & tuba quartet; also a version for saxophone quartet) *''Trombone Concerto No. 3'' *''Tuba Concerto'' (With obbligato tuba in orchestra, and double cadenza for both tubas in the first movement. Premiered in 1996, Sydney, Australia by Susan Bradley, tuba, with National Chamber Opera of Australia, conducted by Chris Howes)

References

External links

Simon Proctor's websiteWarwick Music page on Simon Proctor, accessed 12 Dec 2013Musicroom list of published music by Simon Proctor, accessed 21 December 2009Serpent website newsletter mentioning Simon Proctor, accessed 21 December 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Proctor, Simon British composers British classical pianists Male classical pianists British classical flautists Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 1959 births Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century British male musicians 21st-century flautists