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Composer

 

Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian is a British-Armenian composer, performer, and sound artist. She was born in London in 1980 and grew up in a family of musicians. Her mother was a pianist and her father was a composer and conductor. Horrocks-Hopayian started playing the piano at the age of four and later learned to play the violin and the viola. Horrocks-Hopayian studied music at the University of York, where she earned a Bachelor of Music degree. She then went on to study composition at the Royal College of Music in London, where she earned a Master of Music degree. Her teachers included Simon Bainbridge, Julian Anderson, and Mark-Anthony Turnage. Horrocks-Hopayian's music is influenced by her Armenian heritage and her interest in the intersection of music and technology. She has described her music as "a fusion of ancient and modern, acoustic and electronic, East and West." Her compositions often feature unusual instrumental combinations and incorporate elements of improvisation and live electronics. One of Horrocks-Hopayian's early works is "The Garden of Forking Paths" for string quartet and electronics, which was premiered at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2006. The piece is inspired by the short story of the same name by Jorge Luis Borges and explores the idea of multiple paths and possibilities. In 2008, Horrocks-Hopayian was commissioned by the London Sinfonietta to write a piece for their "Blue Touch Paper" series, which showcases new works by emerging composers. The resulting piece, "The Singing Bridge," is a multimedia work for chamber ensemble, electronics, and video. The piece was inspired by the bridges of London and features recordings of the sounds of the bridges, which are manipulated and processed in real-time by the performers. Horrocks-Hopayian's interest in technology and sound art is also evident in her work "The Sound of Silence," which was commissioned by the BBC Proms in 2010. The piece is a sound installation that uses recordings of silence from around the world, which are played back through a network of speakers arranged in a spiral pattern. In 2012, Horrocks-Hopayian was commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra to write a piece for their "Panufnik Composers Scheme," which supports the development of young composers. The resulting piece, "The Grand Scheme of Things," is a concerto for cello and orchestra that explores the idea of order and chaos. Horrocks-Hopayian's most recent work is "The Library of Babel," which was commissioned by the BBC Proms in 2019. The piece is inspired by the short story of the same name by Jorge Luis Borges and explores the idea of infinite possibilities. The piece features a large ensemble of musicians and incorporates elements of improvisation and live electronics. In addition to her work as a composer, Horrocks-Hopayian is also an accomplished performer and sound artist. She has performed as a violist with the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, among others. She has also created sound installations for galleries and museums, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Horrocks-Hopayian's work has been recognized with numerous awards and honors. She was a finalist for the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize in 2009 and was a recipient of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Composers in 2014.

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