Young Musicians' Festival, 2001, 2002
![[Barry Russell]](images/older/russell.jpg)
Barry Russell works as a freelance composer, animateur and performer. He is Composer in Association for Oldham Metropolitan Borough, pianist / performer with the Cornelius Cardew Ensemble and 50p-worth of the Pound Shop Boys (both Yorkshire Arts Musicians in Residence). He is a visiting lecturer on the MA (Music Education / Community Music) for Trinity College of Music and in November 2000 gave lectures and workshops on Community Music at Amsterdam Conservatoire and Luneburg University in Germany. He is also the Young Musicians' Festival's Advisor on Education.
Barry has taught in secondary schools, was Musician in the Community (Arts Council of England Animateur Scheme) based at Arnolfini Arts Centre, Bristol, and subsequently was appointed Senior Lecturer in Music at University College, Bretton Hall, Wakefield and later Artist in Residence (composer/ performer), also at Bretton Hall. He has worked as 'Composer in Schools' on projects for Avon, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Kirklees, Leeds, North Yorkshire, Oldham and Wakefield education authorities.
He has been both tutor and performer at a large number of UK summer schools and conferences, and has also undertaken major community and education projects in Belfast, for the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, in Bath (for the re-opening of the Michael Tippett Centre), in Plovdiv, Bulgaria (a performance in the Roman amphitheatre which was broadcast nationally), and in Calderdale (a project organised by the Young Musicians' Festival for Calderdale's `Day in the Dome' in February 2000).
Barry Russell has undertaken numerous education projects with primary and secondary schools for the national Young Musicians' Festival, who have commissioned three major works from him to open the festival: 'songlines and LONGlines' (1998) for solo pianist (Tony Harris) and orchestra of classroom keyboards (the orchestrations and episodes to be devised by the school groups); 'Creatures of Flame' (1999) a concerto for solo percussionist (Damien Harron) and orchestra of (any) percussions - pieces made as part of this project used machines in Halifax Industrial Museum as rhythm tracks; and 'Unanswered Questions 2000', a concert [sic] for solo flute with electronics (Jos Zwaanenburg) and multiple chamber groups. He has undertaken many other educational projects - for Manchester Camerata, a PRS Composer in Education / NOEL project for West Yorkshire schools, and with the Northern Sinfonia and the BBC Philharmonic orchestras.