PATRICK OZZARD-LOW

In 1978, when he was 20, Patrick Ozzard-Low 'fell in love' with the Sonate pour piano by Jean Barraqué. Not long afterwards, he resolved to study composition with Bill Hopkins—the brilliant but short-lived British composer who was Barraqué’s only compositional pupil/disciple. Ozzard-Low's early work took impetus particularly from Barraqué, and to a lesser extent from Hopkins and Luigi Nono. Later, in 2000, his attraction to 'natural' intonation and radical microtonality led him to found the Centre for New Musical Instruments in London. However, since about 2007, his music has become increasingly tonal and melodic whilst remaining instinctively exploratory. His composition catalogue contains about 100 works (or around 200 pieces, depending how you count them), but the vast majority of these remain 'work in progress', in a sense deliberately. He is also engaged in writing / completing two books: New Instruments for New Music and Music and Love. Occasionally he plays the piano in concert, but only his own music.