Lane, L

Biography

Liz Lane is a British composer whose music has been described as “creatively brilliant” [4barsrest.com], “easily appealing, yet musically reputable” [Musical Times] and “spell-binding... touched the very core of one’s heart” [David Fanshawe, composer and explorer]. Her style is frequently melodic but seldom predictable, with an appeal that enables her to write for performers of all abilities and varied occasions.
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Commissions and performances
Liz’s music has been broadcast on BBC 1, ITV and Radio 3, and her many diverse works to date have ranged from a fanfare based on bugle calls from the American Civil War premiered in Virginia, USA; a 40th wedding anniversary song cycle, recorded and performed at a surprise party and a full length ballet for the London Children’s Ballet. Performers include the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, Carducci Quartet, Foden’s Band, Frank Renton’s Brass Machine, Symphonic Brass of the RAF, National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, David Thornton, Andrew Kennedy, Marlene Ford (USA), Eastern Virginia Brass (USA), Norfolk Chamber Consort (USA), San Domenico Virtuoso Program Orchestra (USA) and the Almost Orthogonal Quartet (Israel), at venues such as Wales Millennium Centre, Royal Albert Hall, Fairfield Halls Croydon, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Peacock Theatre London, Casino Maltese Malta, Barcelona Cathedral and Murcia Cathedral. Festival commissions have included Cheltenham Festival and Presteigne Festival and she regularly works closely with Lydbrook Band, where she is Composer-in-Residence, and conductor Ian Holmes. Since 2014, she has received three commissions from Bristol Cultural Development Partnership: Silver Rose, written to commemorate the anniversary of the start of World War 1, premiered with narrator Robert Hardy CBE at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, with repeat performances including Aldeburgh, Birmingham and most recently Trinity College Cambridge; Dance where the Spirit Enlightens to mark the 70th anniversary of Arts Council England and Innovation 216, celebrating Bristol's aviation history, performed by massed bands and choirs of 270 aged 8-80 at St George’s Bristol. A different kind of urban was commissioned and premiered by the Open University Choir to mark the 50th anniversary of Milton Keynes and her most recent large-scale work, Tide and Time, was premiered by Foden’s Band at the RNCM Brass Band Festival.

Background and education
Liz started composing at an early age and received widespread media coverage as a child composer, including an ITV television documentary And I Write Music and a televised performance by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She graduated from Cardiff University and subsequently achieved a postgraduate diploma from the Royal College of Music. Liz was awarded a PhD in Composition from Cardiff University in March 2010.

Arranging
She worked extensively with the late composer and explorer David Fanshawe; published collaborations include orchestral and brass band arrangements of The Lord’s Prayer from ‘African Sanctus’, including performances by Orchestra of Opera North, Northern Sinfonia and Black Dyke Band; Pacific Song, performed at the Miami Convention Center and English Suite, premiered by the Southbank Sinfonia at the Royal Festival Hall. She regularly creates wind quintet arrangements for New Harmonie, who visit care homes and special needs schools.

Public lectures, adjudicating and writing
Liz has given lectures about her work to Wells Evening Society (2010 and 2015), Vaga Probus (2016), Hereford Music Circle (2017) and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (2017). In 2017 she adjudicated at the Bristol and District Organists’ Association Composition Competition, RWCMD Cory Composition Prize and BASCA British Composers Awards; she was also Guest Editor for Sound and Music ‘The Sampler’ magazine.

Academic
Liz is a part-time Senior Lecturer in Composition and Performance at the University of the West of England, receiving the 2016 UWE Bristol Computer Science and Creative Technologies Researcher of the Year for her work with OpenUp Music where she is a Trustee and Composer in Association, collaborating closely with the South-West Open Youth Orchestra, winners of the 2017 RPS Music Award - learning and participation. She also works with the Open University, Cardiff University Centre for Continuing and Professional Education, and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. She is an experienced teacher and has delivered education projects for Cheltenham and Presteigne Festivals, also Worcester University; in 2017, she was composer and project manager for arts education projects Sinfonia Cymru’s Boats, Tunnels and Bridges.

Current and future projects
Current and future projects include a commission for ottavino for harpsichord maker and performer Colin Booth, a work for fanfare band for performance in Holland, and Surtaal Symphony, a large-scale cross-cultural venture for Bhangra band, brass band and soprano.