Biography
Nicola LeFanu’s compositions have earned widespread performances and recordings. She has also exerted considerable influence through her work as an educator, lecturer, and leader of musical organizations.
Born on April 28, 1947, in Wickham Bishops in the county of Essex, England, LeFanu grew up with a mother who composed, Elizabeth Maconchy, and a father, William LeFanu, whose background lay in an Irish literary family. She completed her studies at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford University, then continued her training at the Royal College of Music and at Harvard University on a Harkness Fellowship for foreign students. A sequence of prizes and fellowships, notably the German-English Mendelssohn Fellowship, drew early attention to the works she produced in the 1970s. Between 1975 and 1977 she served as director of music at St. Paul Girls’ School in West London. In 1977 she joined King’s College London, where she progressed from lecturer to senior lecturer and then professor; later she became professor of music at York University, heading its music department from 1994 to 2001 and retiring from teaching in 2008. She obtained a doctorate in music from the University of London in 1988.
Her output, often prompted by natural scenes and landscapes, is scored for conventional instruments and spans numerous genres. She has noted a special affinity for vocal music, however, and has composed eight operas, ranging from Dawnpath (1977) to Tokaido Road, a Journey after Hiroshige (2014).
More than twenty-five of her pieces have been recorded, among them the early orchestral tone poem Columbia Falls (1974), which depicts a setting in Maine. Her music has appeared on the Naxos, Neos, and NMC labels, among others. In 2020 a selection of orchestral works from different periods was issued as The Crimson Bird and Other Orchestral Works.
Born on April 28, 1947, in Wickham Bishops in the county of Essex, England, LeFanu grew up with a mother who composed, Elizabeth Maconchy, and a father, William LeFanu, whose background lay in an Irish literary family. She completed her studies at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford University, then continued her training at the Royal College of Music and at Harvard University on a Harkness Fellowship for foreign students. A sequence of prizes and fellowships, notably the German-English Mendelssohn Fellowship, drew early attention to the works she produced in the 1970s. Between 1975 and 1977 she served as director of music at St. Paul Girls’ School in West London. In 1977 she joined King’s College London, where she progressed from lecturer to senior lecturer and then professor; later she became professor of music at York University, heading its music department from 1994 to 2001 and retiring from teaching in 2008. She obtained a doctorate in music from the University of London in 1988.
Her output, often prompted by natural scenes and landscapes, is scored for conventional instruments and spans numerous genres. She has noted a special affinity for vocal music, however, and has composed eight operas, ranging from Dawnpath (1977) to Tokaido Road, a Journey after Hiroshige (2014).
More than twenty-five of her pieces have been recorded, among them the early orchestral tone poem Columbia Falls (1974), which depicts a setting in Maine. Her music has appeared on the Naxos, Neos, and NMC labels, among others. In 2020 a selection of orchestral works from different periods was issued as The Crimson Bird and Other Orchestral Works.
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