Artist
© PrivatMichael Hope
Michael Hope is an UK-born composer, performer and producer currently based in Denmark, whose artistic work is situated somewhere within the domains of conceptual art and experimental theatre, yet almost always positioned as contemporary classical music, or a subversion thereof, thus challenging traditional notions of what constitutes »music« in this regard. His creative vocabulary encompasses direction, production, libretto, instrument-building, set design and curation, often both inserting himself as a performer into his own works and involving performers as vital participants in the creative process, at least partly in an attempt to manifest potentially unique sonic and performative possibilities. Current areas of compositional focus include re-evaluations of the performance spectacle, a conceptual approach towards media selection and misuse, as well as examinations into the relationship between production and consumption, and the inevitable emergence of waste, cliché, and ultimately the loss of control, that arises from such a relationship.
After completing his undergraduate studies in composition at the Royal Northern College of Music on the prestigious Joint Course with the University of Manchester in 2017, and having previously attended the Purcell School for Young Musicians, Michael went on to complete his Master’s degree in Composition at Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium in Aarhus, Denmark, in 2020. Currently a member of the Soloist Class at Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium, Copenhagen, he has had works performed and produced throughout Europe, as well as Australia and the USA, by ensembles and associations such as Esbjerg Ensemble, Aarhus Sinfonietta, members of Ensemble Musikfabrik, AUT (Aarhus Unge Tonekunstnere), and the BBC Singers. He is co-founder, co-director and performer with the Danish-based composer-performer ensemble Current Resonance, and in 2020 became a Britten-Pears Young Artist.