Anglo-Welsh composer Neil March was born in 1963 in Hemel Hempstead. Encouraged by parents who were both involved in classical music, he studied from a young age. At 9, he successfully auditioned for the area's Creative Music Class (for under 11s) where his main ally became the organist Hugh Potton who he would later study with again.
At 13 March was offered a place at the prestigious Purcell School in Watford but was unable to take up the offer. At 14 he won a scholarship for free tuition at Dacorum College. Over the next few years he would become principal Violist with the Dacorum Youth Orchestra and a regular player with several London-based orchestras where he performed with the likes of Jack Brymer, Clifford Curzon and Joseph Pilberry.
At 18 March was due to study composition at Dartington but events conspired to prevent this happening and he instead threw his energies into the burgeoning Post-Punk scene of the early 1980s. He would go on to lead the popular cult Soul/Reggae band MSQ, the Acid Jazz octet Junction 8 and more recently was the creative driving force behind highly rated UK Soul artist Kevin East.
However March experienced an increasing yearning to rediscover his classical roots and in early 2005 he returned to formal composition studies with Benjamin Rous at Blackheath Conservatoire. In 2006 he additionally joined the composition class at Birkbeck University studying with David Sutton-Anderson and Paul Sarcich. He is currently studying for a Mmus (masters) degree in music composition at London's Goldsmiths University.
March's current music is based on a combination of distinct textural features alongside large harmonic blocks and fluid counterpoint. He has developed a form he calls the "Compact Continuous Work" in which the elements of multiple "movements" are condensed into a relatively short piece that is single and continuous. His Fugue & Fantasia (for Orchestra) and Sonatine for Solo Viola offer two markedly different examples of this concept whilst the idea is developed more intensely in the orchestral work Twenty Four Hours.
He has also composed for a variety of ensembles and soloists including two Symphonies and various chamber works.
If you would like to know more about March or are interested in commissioning him to compose music for an artist/ensemble please email neil@newmusiccomposition.com
Works
Prelude for Wind Septet (Sibelius score)