Composer, pianist and conductor Peter Foggitt (1984-) made
his concerto debut at fourteen, and his BBC Radio 3 debut at
twenty-one, playing Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto. Known
internationally for his classical improvisations, he is equally at home
playing the most complex of contemporary works as conducting
Renaissance polyphony. He directs the award-winning vocal ensemble,
Cries of London, and has recently worked with Vocal Futures and the
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Commissions for his work have
come from several cathedral choirs, prominent chamber groups, and solo
instrumentalists.
This season, Peter will
appear as
concerto soloist in Cambridge, London, Croydon, Epsom and Sussex,
as
well as giving recitals across Britain. His compositions will be
performed by, amongst others, the flute trio Tempest, pianist Catherine
Norton, Barefoot Opera and Sloane Square Choral Society; he is
currently working on new music for Duo Retorica, the Emerson Ensemble,
and James Sherlock. With Cries of London, he will perform in festivals
in London and Chester, and in recitals for music societies. Recent competition successes have
included the NCEM Composers' Competition, the Worshipful Company of
Musicians' Allcard Award (for piano accompaniment), the St Paul's
Cathedral Composition Competition, the Royal Overseas League Ensemble
Award (singing) and the Croydon Concerto Competition (solo piano).
Peter's research and performance interests include modal inflection as
an expressive device in music of the sixteenth century, translation
versus adaptation in vernacular text-setting (explored in the texts of
several of his choral works, and in his recent English text of the Bach
Matthaüs-Passion), and,
in the field of improvisation, structural predetermination and virtuoso
piano techniques. He is
active as a poet and translator, as well as as a choral arranger,
published by Chester Novello; he has also written arrangements for
Union Square Records and the BBC (Never Mind the Buzzcocks). As a vocal
coach, Peter has prepared singers for roles at Flanders Opera, the
Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Buxton Opera and various
festivals. He has worked extensively with professional and amateur
choirs including the New Cambridge Singers, the ABRSM Vocal Futures
Consort and the Choir of St Bartholomew the Great.
Peter studied with Norma
Fisher, Robin Holloway, Stephen Cleobury, Nicholas Marston, Douglas
Finch, Eugene Asti, and Martin Roscoe at Chetham's School of Music,
King's College, Cambridge, Trinity College of Music, and the Guildhall
School of Music and Drama, supported by the Watt Trust, the Worshipful
Company of Arbitrators, the City of London, and the Worshipful Company
of Musicians. He has received tuition in improvisation from Robert
Levin, Anto Pett, Neil Brand and Charles Camilleri.