Luke Howard

In the organizer's words:

Eight years after the release of his captivating debut album "Sun, Cloud", Luke Howard has established himself as one of the most important and exciting musicians in contemporary classical music. The composer is at the forefront of opening up piano music to a new generation, while challenging the notion of what can be achieved in this musical form.

Like all Melbourne residents, Luke Howard experienced the world's longest Covid lockdown. He turned the difficult life situation into an artistic triumph and created a new album, his second solo work for the Mercury KX record label, that sets a new benchmark for the contemporary classical composer and pianist.

"All Of Us" is not only an exquisite portrait of isolation, loss, resistance and reconciliation in equally strong and rich shades of piano, orchestra and electronics: the theme of lockdown also forms the framework for the album. Inspired by Albert Camus' novel "The Plague", Howard combines piano, celeste and synthesizer with the Budapest Art Orchestra and guests such as Ben Lukas Boysen. Throughout the album, he alternates between subtle shifts in sound, crafting them with his trademark intimacy and restraint, using a palette that is both minimalist and expansive.

The uncanny alliance between the music's beauty and its uneasy tension is exemplified by the first single "The Opening Of The Gates" from "All Of Us", a quiet ebb and flow of low frequency pulses and synthesizer loops under Howard's piano, conveying the sense of anticipation and nervousness as the quarantine in Oran is finally lifted.

Luke Howard has twice been nominated for the Australian Music Prize. His work "Beating Heart Stories" (2019) presents impressive reinterpretations of his acclaimed album "Open Heart Story". In the same year, his film soundtrack "The Sand That Ate The Sea" was nominated for the "ARIA Awards". He has composed for the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden and the Atlanta Ballet. In addition to his solo career, he leads the Luke Howard Trio and has worked with Janos Bruneel and Grammy winner Nadje Noordhuis.