Dutch Uncles’ Robin Richards gives composition masterclass
Monday 10 October 2016
Composer and member of indie band Dutch Uncles Robin Richards returned to the University of Salford to provide a masterclass for music students.
Robin, who graduated from the University in 2011 with a first class degree in Music, spoke to students about his own compositional technique and treated them to a performance of his soundtrack to the new film Birdsong – Stories From Pripyat.
As well as being the primary writer and bass player in the Dutch Uncles – some of whose work has been recorded at the University – Robin has also composed instrumental pieces commissioned by HOME Manchester and, while still studying at Salford, has received awards for his innovative work.
His latest project is a piano, string and synthesiser soundtrack to the new film directed by visual artist Clara Casian, looking at the ghost city of Pripyat, which was built to serve the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant just three miles away and has remained deserted ever since the 1986 disaster.
The film contains haunting images of the abandoned city, along with its amusement park which opened just weeks before the accident, and Robin’s score is based on first-hand accounts of Ukrainian and Belarusian evacuees who came to Stockport and Glossop.
Students from the University’s Music programmes were given a full performance of the piece in Peel Hall on Friday October 7 – following performances at HOME and Stockport Plaza – and Robin also gave them insights into his practice during a question and answer session.
The event was part of a series of masterclasses held for the University’s music students, which will also include sessions from musicians such as brass soloist Katrina Marzella; Ethiopian singer Haymanot Tesfa; engineer John Merchant, who has worked with the Bee Gees, Barbra Streisand and Lenny Kravitz; and arranger Alex Bone, who has worked with Nile Rodgers and Kylie Minogue.
Brendan Williams, head of Creative Music Technology at the University of Salford, said: “Robin Richards is one of many successful musicians working in a range of genres to have developed his skills here in Salford and it was wonderful for him to return and inspire a new generation of students.
“The masterclass series is a great opportunity for students to talk directly to musicians such as Robin who are working at the top of their field, benefit from their experience and consider ways of working they might not have explored before.”
Robin Richards said: “I feel a real affinity with the University of Salford, having graduated from here and recorded so many times since then. Five years on since I graduated, it’s been a real hub for me and my band mates.
“Peel Hall itself has played a part in my last four records, so to come back here for this has been really special.”
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