Alex Taylor
Alex Taylor is a composer, musician and poet, currently studying for his Honours in music at Auckland University under John Elmsly and Eve de Castro-Robinson.
He plays violin and saxophone for the avant-garde gypsy rock band Dr. Colossus and has recently formed a string quartet, DSCH, which specialises in contemporary and NZ repertoire.
Alex’s works have been performed and workshopped by a wide range of musicians, including the NZSO, the APO, the AYO, the MusicSpace Quartet, the w.art collective, Andrew Uren, Ben Hoadley and Anna McGregor, in countries including New Zealand, France and Indonesia. His music is informed and influenced by a wide spectrum of composers, including Stravinsky, Ligeti, Messiaen and Thelonious Monk.
In 2009 he was Composer-in Residence with the Auckland Youth Orchestra and won first place in the University of Auckland Lilburn Trust Composition Prize concert with his work four abstracts. In 2010 he has undertaken a number of new projects, including the composition of two new orchestral works, six pieces for orchestra and Attention:, which have been recorded by the NZSO and APO respectively. six pieces for orchestra won the orchestra choice prize in the 2010 NZSO-Todd Young Composer Awards.
Alex was awarded a Lilburn Trust Composition Award (second place) in 2010 from the University of Auckland.
(Updated February 2011)
