Katherine Gillham (b.1986) is a SPNM shortlisted composer. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree with a first in composition from Leeds College of Music in 2007 and was awarded the Michael Grady Memorial Prize for Composition. She is also a junior alumnus from Trinity College of Music where she received the Chappell Prize for Composition in 2004. Katherine has had works performed at the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, and has also written for Glyndebourne Youth Opera. Recent commissions and performances include an electroacoustic soundtrack for Rhys Fullerton’s short film Untitled (premiered at the Keswick Film Festival and the Exp24 Film Night in Leeds) and collaboration with writer and director Chrys Salt for the Leeds Lieder festival; Baghdad 2003 premiered at Leeds College of Music in October 2007. Katherine is frequently involved in education as a freelance teacher and workshop leader and assistant, most recently with the Hackney Music Development Trust on Confucius Says, which has been awarded the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Education. She also works as a vocalist and pianist and recently was repetiteur for Glyndebourne’s On the Rim of the World (by Orlando Gough and Jehane Markham) project. She has trained in opera, jazz and contemporary improvisation and continues to perform and create new works with performance art company the gyg. Katherine has been awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music for MMus Composition for Screen, commencing September 2009.
The Shortlist is both a group of 90 composers and sonic artists including some of the freshest emerging talent in the UK, as well as a programme of discovery, promotion and professional development.
Each year a large panel of judges representing a diverse range of musical tastes selects up to 30 composers and sonic artists to join the Shortlist and receive performance, professional development and promotion opportunities for three years