Meet Greg May, a composer, serial improvisor and crisp fanatic from Bedfordshire. Find out more about him here:
Working with fabulous musicians and meeting like-minded composers. I hope this will be a rich learning experience, picking up knowledge from the tutors, musicians, and other composers on the scheme.
It’s like an itch that I can’t quite get rid of! I always enjoy writing for specific people too, and often feel inspired to write after hearing music that I love.
Difficult question! I often like to write very ornate and lyrical melodic lines, with harmony that (to my ears) is very soft-edged, with lots of whole-tones in it. I’m always keen to create the clearest textures I can, so that you can always hear everything that’s going on.
I would spend time improvising (instead of practising) at the piano when I was younger, and I would always try to write these improvisations down. In many ways this is what I’m still doing!
I feel that any kind of creativity is important, even if only for the creator themselves. If the music communicates to listeners and performers then that’s even better.
To write something that communicates strongly to somebody, whether that be a listener or a performer.
Messiaen – Éclairs sur l’au-delà…
Lorde – Pure Heroine (if I’m allowed a whole album!)
Tchaikovsky – Symphony 5 (mainly for the 1st movement)
… I change my mind daily about this kind of thing, so tomorrow’s list might be totally different!
Crisps (absolutely any kind and flavour)
You can discover more about Greg’s work on his website.