personal explorations of a musical palette that draws on various seemingly opposing genres or styles…
Bio
Blair asserts that his collision of styles is his way of searching for a deeper meaning. Louis Andriessen (with whom Blair studied) talked about Blair creating a ‘universal metaphysical musical language, just as Mahler desired his symphonies to be heard to represent the world. And this is Blairs purpose, to permit eclectic diversity and temporal associations to offer exceptional musical freedoms, where all sound is equally relevant and musical hierarchies are levelled, so that something more abstract, more universal, can emerge…
Warwick Blair has a reputation of one of the most eminent composers New Zealand has produced in years. Having studied under Louis Andriessen and Iannis Xenakis, Blair’s music fuses classical and indigenous traditions with electronics in a mesmerising minimalistic soundscape. His performances have become his personal explorations of a musical palette that draws on various seemingly opposing genres or styles, creating a compelling and challenging soundscape. Recently Blair’s international profile has steadily been increasing with many premieres, including world premieres, at prestigious festivals and venues, taking place around the world. Blair returns to the UK each year in a series of live performances alongside his very own Warwick Blair Ensemble (WBE) featuring global and UK musicians. In 2024 Blair was made is due to perform with the Ligeti Quartet, at the Swiss Church, Covent Garden, London and Wesley Memorial Church, Oxford. He will also be speaking as part of the Composer Speaks series at Oxford University. This follows a 2018 residency at Iklectik, and a 2016 residency at Kingston University. Blair’s work previously appeared at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, South Bank Centre, and he performed together with his ensemble at the Tête à Tête Opera Festival in 2013, Kings Place in 2015, and in 2017 at Club Inegales.
The 2021 piece Ritual #1 - Darkness, marked the beginning of a significant new period in Blair’s work, a period that involved a type of ‘process’ music, where simple gestures are combined to form a larger mesmerising system. As Blair said…“I am becoming more of a conjuror of atmosphere, less concerned with details and more concerned with the overall. I set up a process which can generate vast swathes of material if required, or alternatively I could decide on a more subtractive approach; and this is what is really exciting, whatever way I decide to go, it essentially remains the same piece!”