Paul Mealor

Biography

Born in St Asaph, North Wales in 1975, Paul Mealor studied composition privately, from an early age with John Pickard, at the University of York with Nicola LeFanu (BA 1997, PhD 2002) and in Copenhagen with Hans Abrahamsen and Per Nørgård. In 2003 he was appointed Lecturer in Music and Head of Composition at the University of Aberdeen.

Mealor's compositions are performed around the world including major commissions from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Britten Sinfonia, Northern Sinfonia, Jeremy Huw Williams, Mika Takehara, Ian Pace and the Gemini Ensemble. His works are regularly broadcast on international radio, including Swedish Radio, New Zealand Radio, Danish Radio, Japanese TV and Radio, Australian Radio, S4C (Welsh TV), and the BBC (Radio Two, Three and Four).

In 1997 Mealor established the Northop Festival of Music, which has gone on to become one of the most successful events in the North Wales Calendar and in 2005 created, in association with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the University of Aberdeen Music Prize for Composition. In October 2003 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and in 2005 he was appointed Visiting Professor in Composition at New York University.

"One of the most important composers to have emerged in Welsh music since William Mathias... a real and original talent." New York Times, 2001

"The highlight of the evening was Paul Mealor's Elegy for a Play of Shadows... a powerful and deeply moving monody for Cor Anglais and Ensemble. It is full of intense harmonic writing and wonderfully crafted tutti sections..." Edward Wainwright, Music On The Web, 2003

"'Awesome' was the description one young concertgoer gave as his reaction to Mika Takehara's performance of Echo by Paul Mealor. With the wonderful throbbing intensity of its drumbeats and its use of startling vocalisations by the performer the whole audience were rocking with excitement - and me too!" Alan Cooper, The Leopard, 2004