Adam de la Cour
Adam de la Cour (born June 8, 1979) is a British composer and performer. He studied composition under Rodney Newton, Kit Turnbull [1] and Michael Finnissy. de la Cour gained his Ph.D. from the University of Southampton in 2006.
de la Cour has written for various ensembles and soloists across the UK, the US and Europe including Michael Finnissy, Ah! you sitting comfortably (Vicky Wright/Peter Willcock), Laura Moody, Mark Knoop, The Calculators, Arco Collective, Anne Rhodes, Matthew Knowles, Libra Duo (Mark Knoop/Carl Rosman), IXION Ensemble.
de la Cour's music embraces a wide range of influences including elements of the New Complexity and avant-garde metal, the visual aspect of his work is of great importance showing a strong affinity to dada and surrealism especially in reference to the role of the 'object' with pieces such as Three Boxes and a Cube. de la Cour often creates performance scenarios of an absurdist or 'Pataphysical nature and has a keen interest in Comics, producing a series of comic (graphic notation) scores the first of which entitled The Real Imaginary Framed Existence of Ringhead and Loon, was performed by Adam de la Cour, Michael Finnissy and Alan Witts and is available for download online.
Performances
de la Cour has performed as a vocalist/guitarist/clown at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Barbican Centre, Spitalfields, Expo, Soundwaves, and Borealis (Norway) festivals, Rational Rec.,[2] guested with members of Ensemble Plus Minus,[3] mimicked animal noises for artist Anna Best [4] been broadcast on Resonance FM and recorded for BBC Radio 3 premiering works by Michael Finnissy and Chris Newman. He also performs in the bands Zipperface, Nostrilatu, The Bishop of ****, and is a composer/performer for Arco Collective.
Selected works
- Three Boxes and a Cube (2004–2007) comprising Box 1: The Amputee (2004), Box 2: The Foetus on the Sofa (2007), Box 3: The Mirror Dwarf (2006) and Cube (2007). Collapsible steel frame notated scores.
- The Real Imaginary Framed Existence of Ringhead and Loon (2005). Large comic book score, first performed and recorded by de la Cour, Michael Finnissy and Alan Witts.
- Clown, a circus (2006), scored circus show using Cut-up techniques influenced by William S. Burroughs. Utilizes midget piano-stool pushers, surreal violence, 'throat percussionists' and quotations from the Marquis de Sade.
- H: Tokyo Dwift (2006) for solo piano. Japanese Hentai, commissioned and first performed by Michael Finnissy.
- Nursery Rhyme piano miniatures (2006), first performed by Mark Knoop.
- Tic (2007), solo for cello vocal. Written for Laura Moody. First performed at the Jack Lyons concert hall, York.
- Beat me (Cut and Perm' no.1) (2007) for solo piano and rape alarm. Written for Mark Knoop. First performed as part of the BMIC's Cutting Edge series.
- Verscharfte Vernehmung/Cowboy George (2008) For B flat clarinet/Bass clarinet/actor. Written for Vicky Wright and Peter Willcock. First performed at the National Portrait Gallery (London).
- L'Exorcisme du Momo (2008) for pipe organ/piano/contrabass clarinet/B flat clarinet/voice/drum for Libra Duo Mark Knoop and Carl Rosman.
- Block for viola solo (2012)
de la Cour has projected work at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) as part of Comica 2008, and has exhibited at Southampton's Artvaults and the Centre for Recent Drawing (C4RD).
Benny the Clown
de la Cour appears in many of his public performances – particularly with Zipperface – as his alter ego Benny the Clown.
Benny is a traditionally made up whiteface (grotesque) clown, with oversize shoes, gaudily coloured baggy trousers and an enormous red fright-wig. Benny has his own unique facial make-up. He is often heard to speak in a broad Brooklyn accent, which can be heard in his early "...play this with your eyes closed" videos.[5]
In November 2007, Benny appeared with his new sidekick Percy the Ringmaster at the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall to perform a specially choreographed 8 minute skit to music composed by de la Cour.
Benny and Percy have since appeared at the launches of the Spitalfields Festival (December 2008, Spitalfields Market, London - with pianist Mark Knoop) and Brighton's Soundwaves Festival (Brighton Station main concourse, June 2008 - with a band featuring Alan Bates on Double Bass and Mr Pump on Keyboard).
Additional information
de la Cour was a featured artist in Richard Cork's article "The Stubborn Art" in the Financial Times' Drawing supplement, and was interviewed in the online magazine CrushtoPulp.