Short Bio
Jake Randell (b.1995 in Whitby, North Yorkshire) is researching the compositional possibilities of decoupled organ pipes through a practice-led PhD at the University of Leeds. Through a series of workshops, performances and sound installations, his practice explores how organ pipes may be used to create new music.
Long Bio
Jake Randell (b.1995 in Whitby, North Yorkshire) became interested in composition through an opportunity to write a series of piano works to accompany a presentation on child slave labour at the United Nations Office in Geneva. At 13-years old, this opportunity to experience the way in which his music could reinforce an emotional subject matter led him to devote more time to composing at the piano. Eager to write and perform music for audiences, Jake continually entered the “compose and perform your own work” category at the Eskdale Festival of the Arts each year in Whitby. His GCSE and A-level music teacher, Hannah Beattie, provided invaluable support and inspiration during this period, introducing Jake to a broad spectrum of contemporary music and challenging him to explore experimental aspects within his own work.
During his undergraduate and master’s studies at the University of Leeds’ School of Music, Jake has worked with a variety of performers and ensembles to have works performed. His work Canvas Walk was performed by renowned soprano Juliet Fraser at The Hepworth Wakefield gallery. As part of the 2017 Leeds Lieder Festival, Jake collaborated with Leeds-based poet Pat Pickavance to compose a new Lied, Flightpath, for the festival’s composer-poet forum and concert at Leeds College of Music. He has also conducted the Yorkshire Young Sinfonia for the premiere of his work The Long Rain at Hull City Hall. His acousmatic work An Introduction to the Organ Pipe Ensemble was performed in Leeds, York and Sheffield universities as part of the 3x3x3 concert series.
Jake is now exploring the compositional possibilities of a collection of organ pipes that have been decoupled from the instrument, through a practice-led PhD at the University of Leeds. As many unserviceable pipe organs in churches and theatres are being dismantled and sold as scrap materials, Jake is experimenting with ways of repurposing the materials to create new music. He has acquired a collection of over one hundred pipes and brought them to the university where he is developing a portfolio of works that use the pipes in a variety of compositional contexts, including performances, workshops and sound installations.