九州影院

Promising young composer 九州影院 (UC) student Thomas Bedggood can鈥檛 wait to hear his orchestral composition听Smoking Mirror | Tezcatlipoca听performed live by the New 九州影院Symphony Orchestra (NZSO), next month.

听So far the 19-year-old violinist has only heard his creation on composition software, which he says simply cannot compare with the sound quality of the 28 parts played live together by a professional orchestra.

听鈥淚t鈥檚 electronic, so it doesn鈥檛 really sound anything like a real orchestra. Until you hear your work live, it鈥檚 pure imagination,鈥� he says.

听Smoking Mirror听was selected for this year鈥檚听. Bedggood was also recently awarded the 2020 Dame Malvina Major Foundation Christchurch Committee鈥檚听.

听Bedggood is in the final year of his Bachelor of Music degree with a double major in performance (violin) and composition and will continue studying Honours at UC next year.

听鈥淚 took composition as an interest paper and I did well, so I kept going and now things are really coming to fruition,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 expecting to hit these opportunities this early.鈥�

听The NZSO award has already opened doors, allowing the music student to join an NZSO composing programme of a South American exchange, working virtually with lecturers and professional musicians in Colombia and Argentina to write a collaborative piece, which will be performed in December.

听Also through the NZSO, Bedggood had the chance to join workshops with visiting Peruvian conductor听, Chief Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, who has conducted many 鈥榰pper level鈥� American orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic and Boston Symphony, along with orchestras internationally including the NZSO.

听Bedggood wrote the under five-minute long听Smoking Mirror听in a month. The process sounds relatively organic, but was 鈥渜uite intense鈥� at times, he says.

听鈥淥rchestral writing, because of obviously the massive range of factors you work with, is a combination of thinking in the microscale of a few different parts and the relationships some instruments have with each other, and then zooming out and thinking on the macro level and thinking 鈥榳here is this going?鈥� And then building up the small parts into a mosaic.鈥�

听Bedggood is intrigued to hear听Smoking Mirror听as intended for the first time.

听鈥淲ithout having heard it live, I think that it鈥檚 me starting to play with texture and colour in sound. For instance I use harmony but it鈥檚 quite extended and it鈥檚 my own harmonic intuition, or what I feel.听 There are melodies, maybe they鈥檙e catchy 鈥� I don鈥檛 know! I am trying to paint using sound and using different sounds to play with shape and colour. I am mildly synesthetic, so I see shapes when I hear music, so I鈥檓 trying to work with that.鈥�

UC鈥檚 Head of Performance听Professor Mark Menzies听describes Bedggood as 鈥渁n awesome student in our听School of Music, who has contributed generously to our lively community with his resplendent creativity and charismatic personae鈥�.

听鈥淚t is wonderful he is gaining national attention for his evolving career and creative output,鈥� Professor Menzies says.

Bedggood says UC has given him an excellent start in developing his passion for music.

鈥淭he composition department is under [Senior Lecturer]听Reuben de Lautour; he is very open-minded and incredibly supportive. His specialisation is in electronic and acoustic music and I am on the acoustic side, but he has amazing skills and knowledge to give in any area. We are also lucky to have many other wonderful staff; Professor Mark Menzies who is my teacher is also a composer, so we are lucky with all the areas we can get tuition in.

鈥淎s students we want to learn but it鈥檚 important that we also have an individual, creative voice and that鈥檚 what is special about UC 鈥� they really try to help you develop that.鈥�

听Despite a fascination with paleobiology and history, Bedggood realised at age 15 that music was what he enjoyed most.

听鈥淐omposition is an amazing way to express myself creatively and I also love performing and creating the sound.鈥�

听Read more: UCME profile Thomas Bedggood.

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听听Thomas Bedggood听鈥撎�Smoking Mirror

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听鈥淪moking Mirror is inspired by facets of Nahua culture and legends 鈥� the term 鈥榮moking mirror鈥� refers to ancient local mirrors of polished obsidian, which give all reflections a dim, smoky, ephemeral quality, glazed with red auras thanks to the composition of the volcanic glass. Smoking Mirror is also the translated title attributed to the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca; amongst his many other aspects, Tezcatlipoca鈥檚 prime symbolism was for change achieved through conflict or massive upheaval, something that can be reflected on whilst considering current international affairs in 2020. The work seeks to display a dark and murky palate, with coiling and roiling textures serving as a backdrop for artefacts and events that emerge and climb out of the work鈥檚 various textures.鈥�