Artistic Biography

Thomas Simaku

"...the elegance of Ligeti and the gritty intensity of Kurtág, a fascinating combination."
"I get the sense of pure music in a serious vein, its composer driven only by an internal need to express himself."
Fanfare Magazine, USA, September/October 2008, review by James H. North

"Pointillist in its concentration or copiously expansive– expressive versus frail and delicate– sometimes clear, present and immediate, and sometimes like noise, coming out of three dimensional space and as if from another age. It is barely conceivable that two voices, accompanying and contrasting one another, and each laden with different associations, are both played by one and the same bow."
"Simaku's idiom combines avant-gardism and modality in a manner all its own."

Avangarde und Ethnologie vereint, by Frank Kämpfer, Deutschlandfunk, Cologne, July 2008

"Tumultuous and glistening, with a deeply convincing inner strength, structural integrity
and an impressively thunderous character." Politiken - Copenhagen, 2005

[Hyllus for Orchestra]

" ...an imaginative and captivating piece." ISCM - World New Music Magazine, July 2006

" ... a piece of controlled, dramatic and surprisingly individual power. " Keith Potter, Tempo, Cambridge, April 2005

Albanian-born British composer, Thomas Simaku (b.1958) graduated from the Tirana Conservatoire (1978-82) and gained a PhD in Composition at the University of York (1991- 96) where he studied with David Blake.

Winner of the much coveted Lionel Robbins Memorial Scholarship (Simaku was the only candidate in the UK to win it in 1993), he also was the 1996 Leonard Bernstein Fellow in Composition at Tanglewood Music Centre in the USA with Bernard Rands, and a fellow at the Composers’ Workshop - California State University (1998) with Brian Ferneyhough. In 2000 he was awarded a highly prestigious Fellowship from the Arts & Humanities Research Council in London.

Simaku's music has been reaching audiences all over Europe and the USA for over a decade, and it has been awarded a host of accolades for its expressive qualities and its unique blend of drama, intensity and modernism.

In 1995 his work "Epitaph" for String Orchestra was selected by the International Jury for the ISCM World Music Days in Germany - the first ever Albanian music to be included in this prestigious festival. Subsequently Simaku's works have been selected by the International Juries for the ISCM festivals of 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006. Other international festivals where his music has been performed include Huddersfield, Tanglewood, Avignon, Miami, Zagreb-Biennale, Weimar, Munich, Rome, Cagliari, KlangSpectrum (Austria), Viitassari (Finland), Alea III Boston, Innsbruck(Austria), Odense (Denmark), Manchester, York, Birmingham, Automne de Tirana etc.

Broadcasts of his music include those by BBC Radio 3, Radio-France, SWR2, MDR, Deutschlandfunk (Cologne), Amsterdam Radio 4, ORF (Austria), Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Japanese, Polish, Croatian, Danish, Portuguese, Hellenic, Swedish, Romanian, Swiss and Icelandic radio stations.
Notable performances include, among others, those given by the Arditti Quartet, English Northern Philharmonia, Slovenian Radio-Television Orchestra, European Union Chamber Orchestra, MusikFabrik, London's Kreutzer Quartet, Amsterdam New Music Ensemble, the New London Orchestra, Goldberg Ensemble, Tokyo Phonosphere Musicale, Insomnio Ensemble, Polish Radio Chamber Orchestra, Rubinstein Quartet, Copenhagen Sinfonietta, Concorde (Dublin), Luxembourg Sinfonietta, Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra, Capricorn Ensemble, Norwegian Medieval Trio, Tyrolean Ensemble of New Music (TICOM), The Duke String Quartet, Tirana Asmus Ensemble.
Internationally acclaimed soloists such as Peter Sheppard Skaerved, Garth Knox, Rohan de Saram, Garth Knox, Noriko Kawai, Ian Pace, Vania Lecuit and Madeline Shapiro have performed ihs solo works. Simaku's music is published in England by University of York Music Press and Emerson Edition.

Thomas Simaku has given lectures and presentations on his music at a number of Universities and Academies, including King's College and Royal Academy of Music in London, 'Hanns Eisler' Academy in Berlin, Vienna Conservatoire, Leeds University and Birmingham Conservatoire.

In 2000 he was granted British Citizenship and now lives in York with his wife and two daughters. Winner of a number of prestigious awards, such as Serocki International Prize and Lutoslwaski Award, Leverhulme Fellowship, DAAD Residency in Berlin, and Honourable Mention at the 2006 Musical Personalities International Competition - Alexander Tansman in Poland, Thomas Simaku is a Senior Lecturer at the University of York.