Composer Profile
Gordon
Thornett
Choral and Orchestral Composer, based in Birmingham, West Midlands. Interested in extending links with adult and children's choirs both here in the UK and abroad.
Key Information
Region:
England - Midlands
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Fees guide (£):
to
0
600
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Willing to write:
Audio sample:
About
Gordon
Gordon Thornett read Music at Manchester University, and has had a long career as a teacher and a music therapist in the UK. As a composer, he has written a number of new settings of Christmas texts, which have been performed by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, of which he is a long-standing member, and other symphony choruses and smaller choirs in the UK and elsewhere. Some of these have been published by Oxford University Press, Shawnee Press and Norsk Musikforlag, but many others are self published, and available through JW Pepper, SheetMusicPlus or Swirly Music.
His Festive Overture, The Joy of Christmas, commissioned by the CBSO, is published by Faber, and has been recorded by the RTE Concert Orchestra, on the Heritage label (HTGCD 299). There is also a choral version available from the publishers. His Children's Christmas Suite has been recorded by the Birmingham Royal Ballet Sinfonia, conducted by Gavin Sutherland, and is available as a download through such sites as Spotify and Apple Music.
Choirs in the UK who have performed his music include the CBSO Chorus, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir, the Royal Northern Sinfonia Chorus and the London Symphony Chorus. He has formed a close association with the Nidaros Cathedral Boys' Choir in Trondheim, Norway, and has written a number of settings and arrangements for them. His extended setting of the Gloria, for soprano soloist, mixed choir, brass, timpani and organ was premiered by in 2014 by the Bel Canto Chorus in Milwaukee, and has subsequently received several performances in the USA. More recently his Advent Prelude, Fanfare and Cherubic Hymn, commissioned by the John F Kennedy School, Berlin, was premiered to great acclaim in Berlin Cathedral.
He is equally interested in writing for smaller choral societies. For example, he was asked to write a piece called Christmas Candles for the Solihull Chandos Choir, to a text written by one of the choir members. This also incorporated a local children's choir. A more recent project was with a primary school choir in Wisconsin, USA. which included online interaction between the composer and some of the students. He is keen to forge links with other choirs, both locally and through online collaboration.