Tim Ward

composer and specialist in music technology

While he began writing with performances via standard sound diffusion systems in mind, and continues to perform his music wherever possible using these systems, he quickly identified a need for simpler performance systems designed to exploit smaller and more unusual venues through their great flexibility, simplicity and speed of installation. Together with three other young composers in the UK - Nick Fells, John Richards and Gabriel Prokovief - he was a founding member of the performance group Nerve8, who established just such a sound diffusion system and performed a highly successful sequence of concerts across the UK. Two CDs were released by Nerve8, whose activities were recently brought forward once again via an invited concert as part of the artistic program at one of the leading music research centres in the UK (the Music Technology and Innovation Group at DeMontfort University, UK). This concert formed part of a BBC radio broadcast about the group and its approach to the performance of electroacoustic music.

In parallel to these activities Tim Ward also performs improvised pieces using live electronics. Initial performances were focused around the tuba and were highly theatrical in nature, culminating in concerts at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in the UK (2000).  Later performances have focused around laptop improvisation using a collection of everyday objects connected together via contact microphones and movement sensors.

Tim began his musical studies with diplomas on the piano and viola, before going on to study tuba with Brian Kingsley of Opera North, UK. He studied music as an undergraduate at the University of York, UK, followed by masters level studies in music technology and a PhD in composition at the same institution. He then taught music and music technology as a visiting tutor and later member of staff at a range of UK universities (University College Scarborough, University of Manchester, Leeds Metropolitan University), before moving to live in Athens, Greece. In Greece he teaches composition in the music departments of the University of Macedonia, the Ionian University (as a member of the Electroacoustic Music Research and Applications Laboratory) and at the American College of Greece (Deree).  He also maintains various professional links with the UK, including a regular role teaching highly successful summer schools in MaxMSP computer music programming at Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK. 

Tim Ward is an active member of both the Greek Society of Electroacoustic Music Composers and the artistic society Spiza, with which he has undertaken an extensive range of concerts and festival appearances. In support of his university teaching he has presented a number of academic articles on composition using technology at different international conferences.