JONATHAN LITTLE

JONATHAN LITTLE’s music is characterised by its beauty, intensity, richness of material, and accessibility. He trained as a chorister with the National Boys’ Choir of Australia, and later went on to study Composition and Performance (Timpani and Percussion) at the University of Melbourne, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Music (Honours) in 1987. At Melbourne University he won the Wright Prize in Instrumental Music, and was awarded the Lady Turner Exhibition for overall excellence. As a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra from 1986 to 1988, he participated in the orchestra's Bicentennial European Tour. While still an undergraduate student, Jonathan performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and also played for the annual New Music workshops of the Australian Opera Company. He has toured internationally and performed in many leading concert halls in Australia and Europe, playing under distinguished conductors including Sir Charles Mackerras, Christoph Eschenbach, and in the UK with English National Opera’s Senior Resident Conductor, Michael Lloyd.

In 1985, Jonathan's first serious composition won him a scholarship to the Australian National Music Camp. Thereafter followed various musical and teaching appointments, including time spent as Assistant Director of Music at Durham School (UK) in 1988-89, and, on returning to Australia, as instrumental tutor at the Institute of Performing Arts Education, Melbourne University. In the early 1990s, he was appointed a Director of radio station 3MBS-FM, with specific responsibility for overseeing the quality of programming and on-air production – at which time he also ran the Outside Broadcasting unit, and wrote and presented several musical documentary series. He concurrently pursued a course in orchestral conducting with Gerald Gentry, former BBC Staff Conductor, and, in 1994, Jonathan was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music for his research at Monash University into the development of "exotic" orchestration in 19th- and 20th-century music. His own conducting activities have included chamber and orchestral music concerts comprising some of Australia’s leading musicians.

In 1995, Jonathan moved to the UK. He worked for three years in public administration with the Department for Education and Employment (1996-99), and, in 1999, was appointed Lecturer at Buckinghamshire University College on their innovative Music Industry Management course (the first such degree course in Europe) – where he specialised in the workings of the British and international recording industry, and taught songwriting analysis. During the same period, he acted as an External Examiner in Music Composition for Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR), and currently examines for the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO).

Jonathan is a life member of the Royal Philharmonic Society, and a member of the Incorporated Society of Musicians, the Fellowship of Australian Composers, and the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters. From 2004 to 2007 the US-headquartered French contemporary music label ERM (Editions de la Rue Margot) undertook to release a selection of his compositions within their prestigious “Masterworks” series – a multi-volume CD set showcasing international contemporary composers. On ERM, his works are performed by the Czech and Kiev Philharmonic Orchestras, with vocal soloists of the Sofia National Opera (Vols. 3, 5, 8, 10 & 11). Other important musical premieres include Jonathan’s 21-part Kyrie (on Dilute Recordings), given by the Thomas Tallis Society/Philip Simms at Waltham Abbey, Essex, and St. Alfege, Greenwich (UK), at the historic Tallis 500th Anniversary Concerts in 2005 (and subsequently awarded the Tallis Commemoration Medal). Jonathan has won five Masterworks Prizes (USA) for exceptional vocal, string, brass/percussion and orchestral scores, and in October 2006 featured on the front page of the ASCAP website in America (in the same year winning his first ASCAPlus Award). Major scores have been prepared for performance and publication through the assistance of the SPNM’s Francis Chagrin Fund (UK), and recordings supported by the Kenneth Leighton Trust (UK) and the Foundation for New Music (USA).

Jonathan is also a member of the Society of Authors, and continues to write and edit works on a variety of music-related topics, ranging from historical works discussing instrumentation and orchestration, to more topical writings on popular music performance and the future of the music and entertainment industries. In a series of articles commissioned for American Outlook magazine, published by the Hudson Institute – a scholarly think-tank which helps shape US government policy – Jonathan has assessed the state of contemporary songwriting, the phenomenon of the “celestial jukebox”, and the implications of the rise of digital cinema. In 2001, he co-founded Music Business Journal, and was for five years its Managing Editor. In 2005, he was appointed first Consultant Editor to A&C Black’s flagship volume of musical reference, the Musicians’ and Songwriters’ Yearbook. At the request of the British Academy, he contributed a chapter on contemporary songwriting to Heart & Soul: Revealing the Craft of Songwriting, published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Ivor Novello Awards.

Jonathan is a member of the Music Publishers Association panel of Expert Musicological Witnesses, and his opinion on musical issues has been sought by media organisations including Associated Press, Granada TV, Channel 4, BBC News and BBC TV’s Panorama programme.

From 2001-2006, Jonathan was Principal of the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, England – Europe’s largest specialist academy for students of contemporary music. He also helped establish the first contemporary music degree course in Italy (in Bologna), and has worked as Curriculum Consultant to the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. Presently, Jonathan is Associate or Visiting Lecturer in Music Composition at the Universities of Surrey and Chichester – while pursuing his writing and composing career. For further enquiries, Jonathan can be contacted via his publishers.

For further information, Jonathan may be contacted via his publishers.

WHAT CRITICS AROUND THE WORLD SAY ABOUT JONATHAN LITTLE AND HIS MUSIC:

- “immense creativity and innovation while remaining accessible to new listeners” – ASCAP Playback Magazine (Summer, 2006) (New York, USA)

- “original and engaging work of depth and beauty … great facility in orchestration” – Nic Rowley, Media Composer and Author (La Bergerie, France)

- “talent and ability … a gifted writer … wonderful vocal work” – Paul Harvey, Operations Manager, ERMMedia [Records Division] (Norfolk, Virginia, USA)

- “innovative and accessible to both musicians and audiences” – Keith Lowde, former Deputy Managing Director and Company Secretary, Music-Copyright Protection Society [MCPS] (London, UK)

- “highly gifted … of unusual ability” – Professor Ronald Farren-Price, AM, Concert Pianist, and former Dean and Ormond Professor of the Conservatorium of Music, Melbourne University (Melbourne, Australia)

- “writes exceedingly well” – Professor Dolores Hsu, Dept. of Music, University of California at Santa Barbara (California, USA)

- “touching music … a unique voice” – Maestro Robert Ian Winstin, Executive Director of the Foundation for New Music (USA)

Artists who have performed or recorded the works of Jonathan Little include: Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra; Soloists of the Sofia National Opera; Chicago Chamber Choir; Tallis Chamber Choir (UK)
Jonathan Little's Performing Rights are assigned to ASCAP (for clearance see: www.ascap.com – “ACE Title Search” – “Search the Database” – Writers / Find “Jonathan Little”)

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