Born in Lincolnshire in 1958, Patrick Hawes studied music at Durham University and began his career teaching music and English at Pangbourne College in Berkshire.
Patrick Hawes has recently emerged as one of the most popular contemporary English composers. He studied music at Durham University and began his career teaching music and English at Pangbourne College in Berkshire. It was during this time that a growing interest in writing music and the subsequent commissioning of his large-scale oratorio The Wedding at Cana led to his decision to compose professionally.
Latest News
Classic FM appointed Patrick Hawes to the role of Classic FM Composer-in-Residence. Hawes succeeds Joby Talbot to the post, signaling the station's continued commitment to new music.
Over the course of his 12-month residency, Hawes will compose a piece of music every month, with each work being premiered on the Classic FM Evening Concert.
Throughout his year-long tenure, Hawes will take part in a wide range of programmes across Classic FM's schedule, on Classic FM TV, online at classicfm.com and in the Classic FM Magazine. A series of special programmes will follow the project, with listeners invited to get involved in the commissioning process by suggesting titles for one of the 12 pieces. Monthly podcasts with Hawes talking about each work and the project as a whole will be available for download from the Classic FM website www.classicfm.com
Speaking about the project, Classic FM Station Manager Darren Henley said: "The Classic FM Composer in Residence is a fantastic way of connecting people with new classical music. Patrick Hawes has already brought new audiences to the genre and his residency at Classic FM will bring audiences even closer to classical music."
Hawes says: "It is a great honour to have been offered this position. Classic FM has been incredibly successful at introducing the classical repertoire to literally millions of people, and to now share in this process is really exciting. I feel genuinely inspired to produce music which I hope will appeal to a wide cross-section of our society and come to reflect people's lives and aspirations at the beginning of a new millennium."
Film and TV
Patrick has firmly established himself as a composer for film and television, writing the theme tune for the ITV Rugby World Cup and also being commissioned in 2002 to write the score for The Incredible Mrs Ritchie, a film directed by Paul Johansson starring James Caan and the Emmy award winning actress Gena Rowlands. Patrick’s track Pavane features on the soundtrack.
Choral Work
Patrick was appointed as Composer in Residence at Charterhouse School, Surrey. At this stage he wrote the children's opera A King's Ransom and built on his creative partnership with his brother Andrew. Together they have produced several large-scale works including The Wedding at Cana and The Far Seeing Land, as well as miscellaneous songs and choral pieces.
His song cycle The Call was premiered in Lincoln Cathedral in 1999 and featured soprano Janet Cowell and the English Chamber Orchestra. This marked the beginning of a fruitful relationship as the same forces recorded his Lazarus Requiem in 2005 and also collaborated with Patrick's own choir Conventus on his debut album Blue in Blue in 2002.
Recordings
Blue in Blue was released on the Black Box label and shot into the Classic FM Hall of Fame at no. 63. Hailed as a ‘wonderful debut album’ by Classic FM, who also named it CD of the Week, Blue in Blue was the fastest ever appearance by a new composer in the history of the Hall of Fame and the highest new entry in 2004. More recently, Patrick worked with Hayley Westerna and his composition Quanta Qualia features on her new album.
External Websites
View Patrick Hawes on chesternovello.com