Uni musician on top US award shortlist

A CLASSICAL album by an award-winning University of Plymouth musician has been shortlisted for a top American award.

Cortical Songs was chosen as one of the best classical music records of the year by Time Out in Chicago.

The album, by Dr John Matthias and London-based composer Nick Ryan, fuses traditional classical music with pop and dance and has now been shortlisted for the prestigious Independent Music Awards, also in America.

The record features remixes from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and Simon Tong of The Verve.

John is a lecturer in sonic arts at the university and plays the violin on the album, which he co-produced.

He said: "We are delighted to have been recognised by such a prestigious magazine. We produced the piece for the University's Contemporary Music Festival in 2007, and then worked with the likes of Thom and John Maclean from the Beta Band on some remixes.

"Nick and I are very interested in exploring different genres and this goes to show what is possible when you open up classical music to more popular influences such as pop and dance."

The concept for Cortical Songs was inspired by the workings of the cerebral cortex. The melodies and textures are generated like the firing pattern of signals in the brain. It was released in the UK in 2008 under Gabriel Prokofiev's NonClassical Label, and then picked up by US-record label Naxos after John and Nick embarked on a critically-acclaimed tour of New York and Texas last year.

Nick, who won a BAFTA in 2002 and a Performing Rights Society Foundation New Music Award with John in 2008, said: "I think there's a real groundswell of interest for music that explores the boundaries of classical instrumentation and its intersection with electronic music culture in the States. It's a very exciting time for us to develop this work with a view to further tours and releases."