Xan Gill signs with Black Dot Press

I am very excited to have begun a relationship with publishing label Black Dot Press.

Founded by composer Conrad Asman in 2019, Black Dot Press is a fully independent publishing group that aims to provide a platform for contemporary new-music composers not only to present their work to a global audience but to explore other composers’ works from a variety of cultural backgrounds. After recently signing a publishing agreement with the digital sheet music app Nkoda, Black Dot Press has now begun officially inviting highly distinguished independent composers from across the globe.

Alan Bush Prize

I am delighted to announce my winning entry in the Alan Bush Composition Prize 2020, the clarinet trio sun, drums & soil, written for Mark Simpson, Huw Watkins and Zoë Martlew.

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"The piece comprises a parade of acute, vividly drawn musical images initially juxtaposed with each other and poised excellently in terms of pacing and length. The pedigree of Stravinsky is there, as the programme note points too; so too are the examples, both in terms of technique and rhetorical manner, of some of his teachers."

"I was struck by the rare, admirable economy of this piece – unafraid to leave lines exposed, and all the more expressive for it. Further, the last section, turning away from the earlier fragments to a drawn out, questioning end, is properly striking."

Michael Zev Gordon on sun, drums & soil

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more about the piece here

more about the Alan Bush Music Trust here

Essay made available

Pleased to say I've just made my 2017 essay 'Under the Skin: Musical Enstrangement in the Horror Film' available to download / browse. Follow the link below if interested!

Xan Gill - 'Under The Skin: Musical Enstrangement in the Horror Film' [2017]