‘…our latest operatic prodigy’
Opera Magazine
' a brilliantly accomplished debut disc...'
The Sunday Times (of Psappha’s CD recording of Five Fantastic Islands)
My highlights from the evening were ‘Frida Sketches’
Marlowe and Beyond
It all echoed Frida’s various states of mind. The last word we heard was, ‘Frida’ as the music quietly and hauntingly subsided. You could have heard a pin drop at The Jacqueline du Pré Centre for Music. We were lucky in Oxford to experience it here first. ★★★★★
Stage Talk Magazine
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ABOUT PAUL MAX EDLIN
Paul Max Edlin has established himself as a preeminent composer, educator, music director and artistic director.
His compositions have been performed by many leading artists, ensembles and orchestras including London Sinfonietta, Arditti Quartet, Alison Balsom OBE, Dame Sarah Connolly, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Nicholas Daniel, John Wallace, Psappha, Britten and Southbank Sinfonias. His works have been recorded and broadcast on BBC 2, BBC Radio 3, as well as on radio & television. He has a particular interest in opera, and his first opera, The Fisherman, was premiered to wide critical acclaim in a production for the London International Opera Festival. His most recent performed opera, Frida, which sets the diaries of Frida Kahlo, was premiered to much acclaim at 2019 Oxford Festival of the Arts with Katie Bray as Frida. He was Composer-in-Residence for London Chamber Orchestra 2016/2017.
Edlin’s music ranges from opera to electronic music. It explores symbolism and often derives its inspiration from extra musical material. From the mid 80’s to mid 90’s many works were inspired by the art and architecture of South-East Asia, especially Indochina. From 2000 onward symbolism of a wider range of sources has guided his music, from the chiastic structures of J.S. Bach to the writings of Gabriel García Márquez and Federico García Lorca and visual work of Frida Kahlo. More recent works have been performed by Arditti Quartet (Frida Sketches), London Sinfonietta (Érendira Dances), London Chamber Orchestra (Simple Gifts), Olga Pasiecznik with the Silesian Quartet and Maciej Grzybowski (Ô saisons, ô châteaux), Gabriella Swallow and Southbank Sinfonia conducted by Nicholas Cleobury (Don – a cello concerto and Three Old Gramophones), Johannes Möller (Momentary Horizons), Cantus Ansambl (A Chain of Wonders) and East London Music Group (Frida).
Edlin studied with Edwin Roxburgh, Richard Blackford and Joseph Horowitz (Royal College of Music, London) and Michael Finnissy (University of Sussex). He has won many prizes including Premio Internazionale Ancona, Harriet Cohen Memorial Award and United Music Publishers Prize.
Edlin was elected President of the Independent Society of Musicians (2011/2012). From 2008 to 2012 he was Artistic Director of Sounds New Contemporary Music Festival and Director of the International Composer Pyramid, both organisations giving platforms to literally hundreds of outstanding contemporary composers. From 2004 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2022 he was Artistic Director of Deal Music & Arts, where he established a series of arts education programmes to support schools in East Kent. He retired as Director of Music at Queen Mary University of London following 39 years’ work in higher education. Having served on many arts organisation boards, he is now Executive Chair of W.E. (West East) International Music and Arts, and a member of the advisory board of City Music Foundation.
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Paul Max Edlin lives in Montepulciano in Italy.