BIOGRAPHY
Lloyd Moore is a British composer whose works have been performed by numerous leading orchestras, ensembles and soloists as well as broadcast in the UK and elsewhere.
His music has been described by various reviewers as ‘bursting with things to say’, ‘wonderfully inventive’, ‘outstanding’, ‘gripping’ and ‘haunting’.
Born into a non-musical family, he was inspired to start composing at the age of 11 after encountering the music of Debussy and Stravinsky at school. Initially self-taught, he went on to study composition at Trinity College of Music where he was awarded a Fellowship Diploma as well as the Chappell Prize for Composition and the Ricordi Prize for Conducting, and at King’s College London where he obtained his Masters degree with Distinction. His teachers have included Simon Bainbridge and George Benjamin.
His earliest recognised work is Divine Radiance for large ensemble, originally composed whilst still a student but substantially rewritten some years later. This revised version was premiered by the London Sinfonietta at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1999 to much critical acclaim.
Subsequent works include Quint for five players which has become one of Lloyd’s most frequently played pieces receiving numerous performances as well as broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, Swiss Radio and the Australian Broadcasting Company; Three Epigrams of Kathleen Raine for mezzo-soprano and ensemble, premiered at the Queen Elizabeth Hall by Louise Mott and members of the Philharmonia Orchestra; Diabolus in Musica, first performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra; Scherzino for piano, commissioned by the BBC for the Mendelssohn bicentenary (subsequently incorporated into the Suite for piano) and the song-cycle Charms to Music which has also enjoyed several performances. More recent works include Leavings for string orchestra (recorded on Toccata Classics) and Airs and Arabesques for solo clarinet.
Many of his instrumental, chamber and choral works are available from Boosey & Hawkes.
His works have been programmed at venues such as London’s South Bank Centre, St. John’s Smith Square, Kings Place, Royal Academy of Music, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester University, Trinity Laban, Birrmingham Town Hall, Cheltenham Town Hall, Huddersfield Town Hall, St. Georges Bristol and Lviv Organ Hall, featured at the Hampstead & Highgate, Norfolk & Norwich and Presteigne Festivals among others and performed by such ensembles as the BBC Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestras, London Sinfonietta, Psappha, Brunel Ensemble, Collegium Musicum Ensemble and Emperor Quartet as well as artists such as Patricia Auchterlonie, Poppy Beddoe, Charmian Bedford, Iain Burnside, Peter Cigleris, Meera Maharaj, Jack McNeill, Mathilde Milwidsky, Alice Neary, Anna Patalong, Dylan Perez, Matthew Schellhorn, Richard Shaw, Philip Sheppard, Ailish Tynan, Tamsin Waley-Cohen, Huw Watkins, Nathan Williamson, Alexandra Wood and Andrew Zolinsky and the conductors Christopher Austin, Martyn Brabbins, Nicholas Kok, Paul Mann, Diego Masson and André de Ridder.
Lloyd’s musical interests and influences are wide and varied and this is reflected in his musical style which has its roots in 20th-century modernism but with a non-doctrinaire, often lyrical quality that occasionally embraces an expanded tonality (as in such works as the song-cycle Charms to Music and Leavings for string orchestra). His music has drawn frequent praise for its craftsmanship, harmonic richness and feel for sonority.
He also works as a freelance music editor and copyist. He has been involved in arranging and orchestration work and is an experienced conductor. He is based in London.