Adam de la Cour

Biography

Adam de la Cour is a composer, performer and filmmaker. 

His work often features elements of Absurdism, satire and dark humour. It has taken the form of short film, video, concert music, studio recordings, radio plays, music with film, and installations.

de la Cour’s music encompasses multiple genres such as experimental, free improvisation, contemporary classical, jazz, and heavy metal. His music has been performed internationally at festivals such as MATA Festival, Bergen International Festival, Melbourne Festival, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, and London Contemporary Music Festival. It has been broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio 3, ABC Classic FM (Australia), and Resonance FM.

He is the creator of BBC Radio 3’s first-ever commissioned Christmas panto, Oh, Bobby!, which was performed as a live radio-play at BBC Maida Vale Studios in December 2023. A version was then broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of The New Music Show. It was described in The Telegraph as:

“...weird, baffling, almost unlistenable - and therefore exactly the sort of thing that late-night Radio 3 ought to be doing”

He was one of only three composers to be commissioned to write a new work for the MATA festival, New York in 2015, for which he submitted Corporate Talent Factor’s Next Top Idol!, a satirical work for jazz/rock trio and video. 

He has written multiple piano works for many prominent contemporary classical pianists including Mark Knoop, Ian pace, and Zubin Kanga . The works commissioned by Kanga include the Transplant the Movie! series, which incorporates live musical performance and film. It has been described in The Wire magazine as:

"...a bizarre and often hilarious fusion of music...with the aesthetics of cult, psychotronic cinema."

He has collaborated with a variety of creative practitioners, including the Scottish artist Bruce McLean on the film Drumstick, and the English composer Michael Finnissy on the two-part piano & film work Hammerklavier.

Adam has enjoyed a longstanding artistic relationship with composer Neil Luck, collaborating on multiple projects across various settings. Their collaborations have ventured into a diverse array of territories, spanning from professional wrestling and seances to live colonoscopies and a unique rendition of Kurt Schwitters’ Ursonate.

Composer Website

Tags

Tonbridge
United Kingdom