Diversability music series: Oliver Iredale Searle on his Microscopic Dances
Watch my interview with, contemporary art music composer from Scotland, Oliver Iredale Searle on his piece Microscopic Dances The piece was commissioned by Drake Music Scotland and NYOS with additional funding via an Athenaeum Award from the Exchange at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and performed by Digital Orchestra and NYOS Futures in August 2017. The ensemble includes iPads, Synthesizers, laptop instruments triggered by switches and Brainfingers.
In his artistic practice, Oliver Iredale Searle attempts to capture personal reflections on past events (often musical) from life experiences, and explore the ways in which he can realise these musically, then communicate it to others. He is also interested in inclusivity in new music, and finding new environments for the creation and performance of new work; this means that he is often engaged in creative conversations with others when starting work on a project, which helps offer ideas and starting points, and allows him to find ways to make work that is specific to each situation.
In 2002, he received a silver medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians and in 2004 won the Mendelssohn Scholarship; he has been nominated for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award and won a British Composer Award in 2018. Over the last few years, his works have been performed at festivals and venues around the world. He is Head of Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and board member of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland.