Eleanor's contemporary music credentials:
Eleanor is one of the leading voices in contemporary harp performance today. She was selected to perform her groundbreaking composition 'The Wood and the Water' at the International Computer Music Conference in Shanghai. This piece incorporates British Sign Language into a musical poem, performed with electro harp, gesture-controlled sound spatialisation and effects and was created in conjunction with Dr Balandino Di Donato. Eleanor has composed music herself for radio dramas and TV documentaries, and in 2007 wrote the score for 'The Bride of Flowers' by Ballet Wales. In 2011, Eleanor won Second Prize in the Gaudeamus Interpreters Contest held in Amsterdam. This international competition is exclusively for living contemporary music and this was a high accolade and won of Eleanor's greatest achievements. Also noteworthy are Eleanor's recording of newly commissioned harp duo pieces with Keziah Thomas, as Double Action Harp Duo. The duo won the Park Lane Group Award in 2009 and in 2010 released their acclaimed album of contemporary works for two harps. In 2012, Eleanor released her contemporary solo harp disc 'The Crown of Ariadne' on Champs Hill Records. She has also recorded works by John Metcalf for Signum Classics and works by Stephen Dodgson for Toccata Classics. Composers she has worked with on their music in recent years include: Raymond Murray Schafer (sadly no longer with us), Ig Henneman, Jonny Greenwood, Ola Gjeilo, Andy Scott, Alexander Mills, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Brandee Younger, Deborah Henson-Conant, Benjamin Rimmer, Kelly-Marie Murphy and Gareth Glyn, to name just a few. Please don't hesitate to ask Eleanor if she has worked with, or knows, 'your' composer!
As with all aspects of Eleanor's learning and playing journey, she is indebted to the patience and skill of her many teachers: Daphne Boden (who first inspired her love of contemporary music and encouraged her in this pursuit), Alison Nicholls (whose work with many living composers, especially in chamber music, inspired Eleanor greatly), Erika Waardenburg, Lucy Wakeford, Ernestine Stoop, Hugh Webb and Judy Loman.
