John Butcher

About artist

John Butcher's work ranges through improvisation, his own compositions, multitracked pieces and explorations with feedback and extreme acoustics.
Originally a physicist, he left academia in '82, and has since collaborated with hundreds of musicians - inc. Derek Bailey, John Tilbury, John Stevens, The EX, Gerry Hemingway, Polwechsel, Gino Robair, Rhodri Davies, Okkyung Lee, John Edwards, Toshi Nakamura, Paul Lovens, Eddie Prevost, Mark Sanders, John Russell, Christian Marclay, Otomo Yoshihide, Phil Minton, and Andy Moor.
 
He is well known as a solo performer who attempts to engage with the uniqueness of place. Resonant Spaces is a collection of site-specific performances collected during a tour of unusual locations in Scotland and the Orkney Islands.
His first solo album, Thirteen Friendly Numbers ('91), includes compositions for multitracked saxophones, whilst later solo CDs focus on live performance, composition, amplification and saxophone-controlled feedback.
 
HCMF has twice commissioned him to compose for his own large ensembles. Other commissions include for Elision (Australia), the Rova (USA) & Quasar (Canada) Saxophone Quartets, reconstructed Futurist Intonarumori (USA), "Tarab Cuts" (based on pre-WWII Arabic recordings, and shortlisted for the 2014 British Composer's Award) and "Good Liquor .." for the London Sinfonietta. In 2011 he received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists.
 
Recent collaborative projects include The Apophonics with Robair and Edwards, Anemone with trumpeter Peter Evans and two trios with Tony Buck (+ Magda Mayas or Burkhard Stangl).
Butcher values playing in occasional encounters - ranging from large groups such as Butch Morris' London Skyscraper and the EX Orkestra, to duo concerts with David Toop, Kevin Drumm, Claudia Binder, Thomas Lehn, Fred Frith, Ute Kangeisser, Matthew Shipp and Akio Suzuki.
 

Upcoming concerts

No concerts

Past concerts

Ask for artist

Artist:

preferred date:

Your Name / Company:

E-mail address:

Additional info:

SUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER

Subscribe and stay in touch

BUY TICKET

Here you can find full list of ticket offices. More

FREE TICKETS - GIFTS

We regularly give away tickets and other freebies (CDs, posters, artists' autographs) More

Join us