The thrilling voice of the soprano Elizabeth Hilliard is juxtaposed with electronic sounds in this programme of recent music by Christopher Fox, who this year celebrated his 70th birthday. At one extreme are Helsinki and Bernauer Straße, works that showcase the richly complex sonorities of the Subharchord, a vintage German synthesizer from the early-1960s of which only four survive. In contrast, the pure sounds of sine-tones create a sonic aura around Hilliard’s voice in Truths and mysteries as she sings a 14th century Latin text by St Bridget of Sweden.

Irish soprano Elizabeth Hilliard is a leading exponent of contemporary vocal music, described in Opera Today as a ‘veritable tour de force of vocal sound, experimentation and expression. She has worked in close collaboration with composers including Gráinne Mulvey, Jennifer Walshe, Christopher Fox and David Bremner and champions Irish art, music and composers, achieving recognition in the US and UK as well as her native country.

Highlights include: musical director of Inappropriate Moments, a 2-day festival of the unaccompanied vocal-ensemble music by Jennifer Walshe (Béal, 2016); musical director of Stockhausen’s Stimmung, for which she created a Dublin version (Tonnta, 2019); E in Slow Recognition by David Bremner and Helene Montague (July ’22); solo recital at New Music Dublin (April ’23), Music Network Tour with Jennifer Walshe, Panos Ghikas and Nick Roth (September ’23), solo recital at sound festival, Aberdeen (October ’23), performance of Split Infinites – an experimental poetry/music/video/art work created in collaboration with David Bremner (composer) and Louise Manifold (visual artist) at Dublin International Chamber Music Festival (June ’24).
Her debut disc ‘Sea to the West’ (2016) was followed by ‘Great Women’ (2021) – both to critical acclaim.

Elizabeth was artist-in-residence at the Music Department of Maynooth University for 2024.

Christopher Fox is a composer, teacher and writer on new music. Between 1984 and 1994 he was a member of the composition staff of the Darmstadt New Music Summer School. During 1987 he lived in West Berlin as a guest of the DAAD Berlin Artists Programme. From 1994 until 2006 he was a member of the Music Department at the University of Huddersfield, eventually becoming Professor of Composition. He joined Brunel University London as Professor of Music in 2006 and left his full-time teaching role in 2021 to become Emeritus Professor. In November 2021 he was elected as a member of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin.

Photo credit for Christopher Fox: Inge Zimmermann

Photo credit for Elizabeth Hilliard: Mihai Cucu