Scottish Opera Appoints Gareth Williams Composer in Residence

"Scottish Opera has appointed Gareth Williams as its first ever composer in residence. The post, which sits within the company’s Emerging Artists Programme, will last two years and is set to provide development opportunities to up-and-coming composers. Williams has already working on a number of projects including a community and schools opera, a piece that will feature in the Opera Highlights tour in January 2012, a chamber opera that will tour Scotland in Autumn 2012 and a pilot project to develop an evidence-based music therapy programme. Gareth created two short operas for Five:15 Operas Made in Scotland, is a lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has composed works for the Hebrides Ensemble, the Paragon Ensemble, Symposia, the Black Hair Ensemble, and the London Sinfionetta. He was the winner of the British Conservatoire Composers Forum 2000, and in 2004 won the Dinah Wolf prize for composition. His work has also been featured in the Edinburgh Festival, the St Magnus Festival, Opera to Go, and the York Late Music Festival. Closer to home, Gareth recently worked with NOISE to create the site-specific The Sloans Project, based on the history and characters of the local landmark." [Source]