Meet the ComposHer: Dani Howard

Dani Howard is a 27 years old British composer and orchestrator. She graduated from the Royal College of Music and received a first-class BMus Honors Degree.

In her work, she is interested in collaborating with artists of different fields. She has worked with dancers, artists, film-makers, and architects in a lot of types of projects. She won several prizes, such as the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize and the 1st Prize in "Breaking the Fourth Wall International Composition Competition", among others.

Learn more about her and her different and awesome works in the Meet the ComposHer of this week!

For a long time I didn’t know that being a composer was an actual ‘job’ and something you could do as a profession…! I always knew I wanted to be a musician (though the type of musician was unclear to me), and when I discovered that there were actually living composers, and you could study composition in higher education (at age 15) then I knew immediately that I wanted to become a composer.

My cello teacher Richard Bamping (Principal cellist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic) started teaching me at age 10, and he truly opened my mind to the world of classical music. I was exposed to a whole range of repertoire which really shaped my musical foundation, and inspired me to always search for more to learn, listen to, and explore. Later on during my studies I was taught by Jonathan Cole, who’s teaching and wisdom has significantly influenced the way I think about and write music.

One of my biggest challenges was during my studies, where my intuition on the type of music I wanted to right (stylistically) was regularly being challenged and questioned. I have always wanted to make new music accessible to wider audiences, while also exploring new sound worlds, harmonies and concepts that are original and unique. This period however made me even clearer in my belief system of why I want to be a composer, as well as what type of composer I want to be, so in reality this challenge I feel has helped me in my life and career.

I work in a way where the structure of the piece is the foundation. I like to have a very clear map of the whole work before writing a single note, and spend a lot of time thinking about the emotional journey I want the audience to go through from start to finish. I try to lock in the overall concept for the piece, and from there explore the notes that can express those ideas.

This is one of my latest works “Coalescence”:

The piece explores the concept of humans versus nature, and how over the centuries I feel our species has attempted to ‘outsmart’ nature in many ways. Commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Vasily Petrenko, I was very fortunate to receive this premiere in September 2019.

Missy Mazzoli : Impromptu

A beautiful work I discovered after watching the TV Series “Mozart in the Jungle” and have enjoyed listening to since. This piece along with many of her other works I thoroughly enjoy.

Don’t expect your next piece to be ‘the masterpiece’ keep writing, and over time the works, and your ideas will get better and better.

Find performers that you like (on a personal and professional level), and write works for them- they will be the ones to champion your music. Listen to all types of music (not just classical or contemporary classical) as you don’t know what could influence your sound over time. Be proactive in applying for opportunities, and don’t let the rejection affect your belief in what you are writing.

This is not necessarily the path for every composer, but my personal journey started with writing a lot of chamber music first before moving on to orchestral works, as this gave me a strong foundation into the inner workings of each instrument individually, in an intimate environment. This then provided me with a much better set of skills and tools which allowed me to better tackle larger works at a later stage.

FOLLOW DANI:
WEBSITE, INSTAGRAM & TWITTER