My name is Aidan and I am a composer. I was born in Australia and was raised in my parents' restaurant in Sydney before moving to Scotland at age 4. I started learning music on my fluorescent green recorder at age 6 and then went on to learn the saxophone, piano and double bass, all of which I performed on as a student at the Junior Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. It was here where I came to realise I preferred writing music than playing it and began learning to compose with Audrey McPherson. I then went on to study composition at the RCS with Dr Gordon McPherson and Dr Stuart Macrae. I have recently completed a PhD exploring the creative potential of embodying working-classness in a folio of new interdisciplinary compositions with professors Joe Cutler and Michael Wolters at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where I now work as a Visiting Lecturer.
I have had the pleasure of working with a wide range of organisations including the Orkest de Ereprijs, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Glasgow Barons Orchestra, the Riot Ensemble, Psappha Ensemble, Thallein Ensemble, and The Edinburgh Quartet. I have also worked with world-renowned performers Sinae Lee, Pascal Gallois, Milos Milivojevik, traditional singer/songwriter Ainsley Hamill, and conductors Jessica Cottis and Paul MacAlindin.
I am also the founder and co-artistic director for the new music group, The Hadit Collective, focussing on the 5% of contemporary repertoire that isn't terrible.
Some of my past project's include being the Composer/Musical Director for the show “Babes In The Woods: From Power To Pie” by Kieran McMath, performed at Into The New 2017, composer/songwriter for the musical film “Entertainment” directed by Adam Castle, the writer/performer of my talk "Why Can't Bach Wear Mascara?", looking at the absence of drag within classical music and how it may be implemented, the creation of a 'dragified' performance of my piece, “How to Own the Room” for Wind Orchestra (performed by RCS MusicLab and conducted by Raffaelle de Giacometti), and working with the BBC in creating "Last Futures" to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 2nd Paris Riots.
I graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with a First-Class Honours degree and the winner of the Patrons Fund Prize (Royal College of Music) in Composition in 2018 and the Craig Armstrong Prize for 2018/19. I am the recipient of two Dewar Arts Awards, two Scottish International Education Trust bursaries, a Cross Trust bursary and a scholarship from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in order to continue my studies at a postgraduate level. I am also a Yeoman with the Musician's Company, was an associate member of the LSO's SoundHub scheme (2017/19), and have had my work performed on the BBC Radio 3 New Music Show with Kate Molleson.
I am currently exploring how to apply the ideas of the Situationist International in compositional and performance practice and working towards a new album of detourned music from Stravinsky, Steve Martland, Mahler, and Angerfist.
I have had the pleasure of working with a wide range of organisations including the Orkest de Ereprijs, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Glasgow Barons Orchestra, the Riot Ensemble, Psappha Ensemble, Thallein Ensemble, and The Edinburgh Quartet. I have also worked with world-renowned performers Sinae Lee, Pascal Gallois, Milos Milivojevik, traditional singer/songwriter Ainsley Hamill, and conductors Jessica Cottis and Paul MacAlindin.
I am also the founder and co-artistic director for the new music group, The Hadit Collective, focussing on the 5% of contemporary repertoire that isn't terrible.
Some of my past project's include being the Composer/Musical Director for the show “Babes In The Woods: From Power To Pie” by Kieran McMath, performed at Into The New 2017, composer/songwriter for the musical film “Entertainment” directed by Adam Castle, the writer/performer of my talk "Why Can't Bach Wear Mascara?", looking at the absence of drag within classical music and how it may be implemented, the creation of a 'dragified' performance of my piece, “How to Own the Room” for Wind Orchestra (performed by RCS MusicLab and conducted by Raffaelle de Giacometti), and working with the BBC in creating "Last Futures" to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 2nd Paris Riots.
I graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with a First-Class Honours degree and the winner of the Patrons Fund Prize (Royal College of Music) in Composition in 2018 and the Craig Armstrong Prize for 2018/19. I am the recipient of two Dewar Arts Awards, two Scottish International Education Trust bursaries, a Cross Trust bursary and a scholarship from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in order to continue my studies at a postgraduate level. I am also a Yeoman with the Musician's Company, was an associate member of the LSO's SoundHub scheme (2017/19), and have had my work performed on the BBC Radio 3 New Music Show with Kate Molleson.
I am currently exploring how to apply the ideas of the Situationist International in compositional and performance practice and working towards a new album of detourned music from Stravinsky, Steve Martland, Mahler, and Angerfist.
Photos by Giulia Gannon, James Sharif, and Alexander Kaniewski