Composers Project 2025formally the 'Future Blend Project'
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2025 Harp Solo Composers: Milosz Czarniecki, Adrienne Wilson, Jacqueline Holt, Tyler Zwink & Xu Zheng
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Collaboration and performance by Resident Harpist: Erica Sinclair
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"Born on the 6th September 2003, and residing in Glasgow, United Kingdom since 2006, I have had a colourful career as a composer and musician so far. Ever since composing my first piece 12 years ago, I have gone on to compose numerous piano and chamber works. Of note is my collaboration with the GAIA duo in 2022, my collaboration with the National Library of Scotland’s Moving Image Archive in early 2024, composing for and performing in RCS’ adaptation of Francis Beaumont’s “The Knight of the Burning Pestle’’ in June and July 2024, and performing as a keyboardist in Camille Corinne’s cabaret show “Good Grief’’ in January 2025. My most recent piece, “Saṃsāra’’, premiered to great acclaim on the 1st of May 2025 at the RCS’ annual PLUG Festival.
In addition, I am the keyboardist and occasional guitarist in Mt. Rain, a music collective founded in 2022 which specializes in a range of genres, including folk, classical, jazz, rock, pop and electronica, performing a handful of successful gigs and jams in addition to releasing our debut single, “Kaleidoscope”, on the 3rd of May 2024. Our debut album is set to be released sometime in the second half of 2025. I am personally excited to be participating in the PoppyHarp Composers Project, as I have always loved the sound of the harp but never felt like I did the instrument justice whenever I composed for it. With this amazing opportunity for composers, I am excited to learn more about the instrument and how to compose better pieces for it through collaboration and discussion, in addition to presenting one of these pieces publicly at the end of the project' |
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My musical life began with the clarinet at age nine, starting a journey playing several instruments in all sorts of musical ensembles. After a non musical career, I have focused on composition. I remain fascinated with musical instruments, their timbres and other qualities and love to create music for them.
Based in Walton on Thames in Surrey, I have recently started learning the harp and am entranced with this beautiful instrument. I am delighted to be part of the 2025 PoppyHarp Composers’ Project and I am very much looking forward to exploring further the possibilities and challenges of writing for the harp. |
Collaboration and performance by Resident Harpist: Bethan Conway
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Adrienne studied clarinet and recorder both as a Junior then full time at the Royal Academy of Music. After many years of teaching music in a range of capacities including instrumental and classroom, and bringing up her four children, she took the bold decision to return to education herself and had a wonderful time studying at King’s College London (achieving a Distinction in a Master’s Degree in composition.) Having started composing in Primary School for a shadow puppet play, she is now working on her PhD, the focus of which is the immersing both the performers and audience in the compositional process. Her spare time is taken up with her plants, knitting and crochet, performing and playing with her adorable grandson.
Adrienne is thrilled to be collaborating with Bethan in the PoppyHarp Composers project and can’t wait to hear the final work being played. |
Collaboration and performance by Resident Harpist: Rosanna Moore
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Xu Zheng is a Chinese composer based in Kansas City. Her music weaves flowing narratives that delve into the inner depths of the subconscious. Known for its picturesque character and evocative storytelling, her work often unfolds like vivid sonic landscapes—traversing memory, identity, and emotion with sensitivity and imagination. Through immersive musical gestures and richly textured detail, Xu invites listeners into introspective worlds. Xu also draws on her cross-cultural background to blend Eastern and Western musical traditions, reimagining their boundaries through a modern lens. Through acoustic and electronic mediums, along with custom programming in Max/MSP, she shapes expansive soundscapes that enhance the expressive and atmospheric dimensions of her work.
Xu is delighted to be part of the PoppyHarp Project, where she is composing a work inspired by a modern painting in collaboration with harpist Rosanna Moore. |
Collaboration and performance by Resident Harpist: Sophie Rocks
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Tyler Zwink is an American composer living in Glasgow, Scotland. He has earned his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Central Oklahoma in the United States, and is currently pursuing his Masters in Music Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, studying with Stuart MacRae, David Fennessy, and Bekah Simms. Zwink’s music has been performed in Spain, Mexico, Scotland, and in many regions across the United States. He has received multiple research grants to compose his four operas, as well as collaborated with the Cumnock Tryst, Hebrides Ensemble, Opera on Tap OKC, Woodward Arts Theater, The Julius Quartet, Wichita Symphony Orchestra, National Library of Scotland, and the International Brazilian Opera Company. Zwink received the Grand Prize of the What IF? Call for Flute Scores and finalist positions at the Red Jasper Composer's Competition, the OPERA AMERICA Librettist Competition, and the Movot's Ensemble Master Course for Young Composers in St.Petersburg. More recently, Zwink has been selected as the winner of the Inchcolm New Music Ensemble Competition and woodwind department’s composer in residence at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
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Donate to the project:We rely on donations to give back to the generous harpists that give their time to this project.
If you would like to donate to this project please email Fran at [email protected] - THANK YOU! If you are a composer that would like to get involved please fill in the form below. If you are a harpist that would like to get involved please email Fran, [email protected] |
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Celebrating 10 years of spreading Harpy goodness!
PoppyHarp is run by harpist Fran Barsby. Location: West Sussex Please email: [email protected] for full address information Copyright 'PoppyHarp Ltd' 2024
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