Music for young people
Howard Moody has developed a special interest in creative projects that bring the highest calibre of musicians to audiences that may never have such an experience of live music. Projects that aim to develop young people's imaginative ideas into dramatic, instrumental and vocal works have involved Howard as a composer and animateur for numerous organizations including the Sarum Orchestra, Theatre Royal Norwich and Create 2 Learn.
Howard has been artistic director/composer for projects that have collaborated with CMW, ENO, Albert Hall, The Globe, Glyndebourne, RSC, South Bank, Wigmore Hall, National Forest, BBC Concert Orchestra, Chichester Festival Theatre, Theatre Royal Norwich, LSO, Sixty Minute Opera, Jesse's Fund, Create to Learn, and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Work at the Royal School for the Deaf in Margate gave Howard an opportunity to do therapeutic work with deaf children. He has since been invited to lecture on music work with deaf people as part of conferences by Cochlear Europe.
His position as Artistic Director of the Sarum Orchestra involves him increasingly in projects that involve the soloists and principal players of the orchestra alongside practitioners from many other artistic disciplines. He is particularly committed to adapting formal concerts into more informal events, without compromising the artistic content and delivery. Ongoing projects with the orchestra include collaborations with Emily Blows (singer), Colin Brown (actor), Ashley Ramsden (storyteller), Emma Payne (dancer), Ken Aiso (violinist), Giles Perring (drummer/composer), Melanie Pappenheim (singer), Sarah Homer (clarinet). He has also run a course with composer Alec Roth for teachers and other professionals called "Wordless Communication".
His work with Youth Orchestras has included five years as conductor of the annual IAPS and NISSO courses at the Snape Maltings.
Work with clarinettist Mark Withers has involved projects in Spain, including informal family concerts together with violinist Ken Aiso and artist Chris Glynn for La Caixa Foundation.
Work in schools has included a four year collaboration between the Sarum Orchestra and Amery Hill School. This involved the second performance of his oratorio "Songs of the Forest", as well as creating three new commissions, "Just Deserts" and "Points of Departure" by John Surman and "Stari Most" by Richard Chew.
In June 2008, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra performed his new work "Moving Music" for orchestra, voices and soundbeams, involving students from Ashcraig Special School, Glasgow. Moving Music was nominated for a British Composer Award in 2010.
He was music director for a two year project with the London Symphony Orchestra, devising film and other dramatic music with blind people. Since 2009 he has directed the LSO ‘On Track’ project that gives young musicians from all London boroughs opportunities to be more involved in the orchestra. He is writing a musical structure (“Variations on Madness”) for their Barbican performance in June 2009 which combined improvising groups with the orchestra. He is writing another set of variations for their 2010 Barbican concert in June.
Howard Moody, chef d’orchestre anglais bien connu...ompositeur, pianiste, organiste ou encore claviériste à ses heures, il participe à de nombreux festivals et multiplie les projets avec les enfants. D’abord discret, le compositeur écoute puis intervient, crée les premières notes, envahit la salle de sa musique, s’adresse aux enfants, rythme la matinée, respecte ses interlocuteurs, les fait rire et obéir. Un grand pédagogue doublé d’un excellent musicien qui propose à ses nouveaux "associés" de choisir, par exemple, entre le jazz et le contemporain. ... Quel est donc le secret d’Howard Moody?
Laurence Bertels, La Libre, 7th October 2009
Children's Music Workshop, Brady Centre, Tower Hamlets
I have unlimited praise for the pianist and music director Howard Moody, who not only accompanied extremely well, but after the 70-minute performance also involved the audience by asking them skilful questions, and got them on to the stage, where, helped by the singers, they took up the drama and re-enacted parts of it which had especially excited them.
Michael Tanner The Spectator, 4 February 2006
Shrieks and spontaneous applause greeted conductor Howard Moody at the start of the schools’ concert held in Salisbury’s City Hall last week. Nearly 700 children from primary schools in the area took part. “We spent the first 20 minutes of each workshop session just playing music and from there the children became part of the music, written both last year and 199 years ago,” said Mr Moody. “The response of the children has been amazing. The aims of the project are to stimulate inspiration and provide new experiences.”
Salisbury Journal, February 2003
