This collaboration stems from a highly successful performance of Brian Ferneyhough's "Time and Motion Study II", which was given at Soundart 98 in London. Heyde's formidable presentation of this complex score is matched in precision and power by Casserley's digital implementation of the complex live processing.
In addition to their performance of the Ferneyhough, works in repertoire include:
Jonathan Harvey - Advaja - Cello, Sampler, MIDI Keyboard, Tapes
John Palmer - Epitaph - Cello, Tape
Kaiija Saariaho - Petals - Cello, Signal Processing
Lawrence Casserley - Transformations II - Piano, Computer
Lawrence Casserley - New Work for Cello, MIDI Keyboard, Computer
Xenakis - Kottos and Nomos Alpha - Solo Cello
They also collaborate with guest performers, eg Jane Chapman, Harpsichord and Carol Morgan, Piano
The full facilities of LEO, including Extensive Computer Processing, Digital Mixing and Multi-channel Amplification are available to the group.
Neil Heyde is noted as an improviser and specialist in 20th century music. Winner of the 1984 National Concerto Competition in his native Australia he moved to London in 1986 - studying cello with William Pleeth, and musicology/performance at King's College London and the Royal College of Music. In 1993 he took up a lectureship at the Royal Academy of Music, where he focuses on the interface between performance, composition and analysis. He is currently working on an analytical study of the rhetorical language of Debussy's late music and is also editor of Faber Music's Concert Repertoire Series of 19th century music for stringed instruments and piano. He is the cellist of the Kreutzer Quartet and has been a member of the new music and improvisation ensemble Shiva Nova since 1989. As a soloist and chamber player he has broadcast for the BBC, Radio France, Netherlands Radio and other European and North American networks. Recordings this year include first recordings of music by Arthur Bliss, Roberto Gerhard and Michael Finnissy.
Born in 1959, John Palmer is a British composer with a strong international identity, having been brought up in both Europe and the USA. In the early 70s he rejected his traditional musical education and began directing several groups of experimental music, jazz and improvisation. In the 80s he decided to continue his studies in classical music, namely piano in Zurich and Lucerne and composition with Vinko Globokar and Edison Denisov. He completed his doctorate in Composition at The City University in 1984, extending his compositional interests with electroacoustic resources. He also studied privately with Jonathan Harvey and was a friend of John Cage, whose sense of acoustic adventure was a major influence in the late 80s. Since 1995 he has been a director of research and postgraduate studies at the University of Hertfordshire. John Palmer's compositions have been awarded prizes in Tokyo, Bourges, Klagenfurt and Lucerne. He is currently preparing a programme on his music for Russian Television.