Tom Harrold

Scottish composer Tom Harrold (b.1991) is a recent graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, where he was a Radcliffe Trust Scholar under the tutelage of Professors Gary Carpenter, Adam Gorb and Dr David Horne.

Described as “brazen…bold…confident” [The Guardian], “thumpingly rhythmical” [The Financial Times], and “packed with incessant energy” [The Scotsman], Tom’s music has been performed across five continents at venues which include the Royal Albert, Berlin Philharmonic, Cadogan, Queen Elizabeth, and Bridgewater Halls, the Maison Symphonique de Montréal, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Kings Place, the Purcell Room, and St John’s Smith Square by groups which include the BBC Scottish Symphony, BBC Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, Scottish Chamber, Aurora, and Birmingham Festival Orchestras, WorldBrass, Onyx Brass, SuperBrass, Total Brass, Manchester Camerata, the Edinburgh Quartet, the Maxwell Quartet, Psappha, the Lancashire Sinfonietta, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, the Endymion Ensemble, Trinity Boys Choir, the BBC Singers, and Exaudi. His music has been recorded by Linn Records and Bayerischer Rundfunk, and broadcast internationally across many networks.

Tom’s recent engagements include a European tour of Skirll by WorldBrass (which included a repeat performance at the Berlin Philharmonie), Silent Shores for the Edinburgh Quartet, Darkened Dreams (a Proms commission that was broadcast live simultaneously on Radios 3 and 4), Nightfires, a BBC SSO commission that was described as “…among the most exciting pieces by a Scottish composer in the last 25 years…” [the Herald], and Raze, which opened the last night of the BBC Proms.

Tom’s upcoming engagements include a new work for the BBC Singers and Pro Coro Canada, a dance project with the London Mozart Players, a large-scale choral work for Glasgow University to mark the end of WWI, and a commission for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s 2017/18 season.

Tom graduated from the RNCM with a Bachelor with Honours in 2013, and a Masters with Distinction in 2015. He was awarded the Soroptomist International for Composers Award and an RNCM Gold Medal, the highest award bestowed by the College. Tom is grateful to have received sponsorship from Dewar Arts Awards, the Scottish International Education Trust, the RVW Trust, Caird Travelling Scholarships, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, and the Cross Trust during his studies. Tom was recently appointed an Honorary Associate Artist of the College.

Prior to the RNCM, Tom was a BBC Proms / Guardian Young Composer winner, shortlisted twice by the NCEM / BBC Radio 3 Young Composers’ Award, and highly commended in the First International Competition for Choral Scores (ISCM / EC / JMI).

Tom broke a Guinness World Record for his work Ticcatoccatina, for the greatest number of musicians performing on one piano at one time.