Neoclassical Suite is a column that will present 7 recent, distinctive tracks of the neoclassical-modern classical-contemporary -and beyond!- music field.
The Players
Juan Sánchez
(neoclassical, new age)
Juan Sánchez is an spanish pianist and composer. He writes Ambient, Neo-Classical and New Age music. He is also the founder of the Beautiful & Emotional Twitter, YouTube and Instagram accounts.
Eamonn Watt
(neoclassical)
My name is Eamonn Watt, aka The Virtual Conductor and I’m the one and only composer for Virtually Conducted Productions! I’m 25 years old and I live in the Shetland Islands, the most northern isles of the UK. I have received a First Class Applied Music Degree from the University of the Highlands and Islands in August 2016 . Along with composition, I am a drummer and percussionist of many genres. I’ve performed in rock bands, heavy metal bands, funk bands and traditional Scottish music sessions.
I started making compositions during my last years in high school in 2010 and became fully realised in 2012 during my first year in college where I created my debut virtual classical album, Bonhoga. I successfully launched this album at the Bonhoga Gallery where it received high amounts of acclaim from music fans ranging from classical music lovers to heavy metal enthusiasts.
I use Bandcamp as my main hub for showing these musical works as it does take me a while to compile together a completed album of musical works and I like showing what completed songs I have so far. I post work-in-progresses of compositions and even some non-classical music as well. https://thevirtualconductor.bandcamp.com
Meg Bloomberg
(neoclassical, contemporary)
Influenced by the likes of Dustin O’Halloran, Ólafur Arnalds, Max Richter and other neo-classical giants, Meg’s piano compositions are truly a blend of old and new. Her style is deliberate and visceral, weaving rich narratives through measured shifts in movement and dynamics. She oftentimes implements a melody-driven discipline in composition, whereby the central theme of a piece takes an unrivaled lead and establishes the character or mood with which to build around. This is not to say that Meg’s work is minimalist; she isn’t afraid to take a piece somewhere unexpected or furnish it with complementary layers. Rather, she doesn’t let harmony or instrumentation overshadow the main communication of her work, which is to be found in the melody.
Animal Feelings
(neoclassical, minimal, ambient)
Animal Feelings is New York-based artist Oli Chang’s latest musical experiment. Highly collaborative in spirit, over the past few years Oli Chang has flirted with disco and ambient pop, but with Animal Feelings he returns to his neoclassical roots.
After spending most of his childhood in South East Asia, Oli Chang was constantly surrounded by the vibrant music of Java, Bali, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. Then as a high School student in Singapore he discovered the 20th century minimalism of Phillip Glass and Steve Reich. Throughout his musical career Chang has been referencing these influences in his work but ‘Film Studies’ has been the purest reduction of his childhood influences to date.
Oli Chang is most known for the celebrated ambient dream-pop duo of High Highs, a long-running collaboration with Jack Milas. High Highs have amassed over 45 million Spotify streams.
Tom Blankenberg
(neoclassical, solo piano, minimal)
Duesseldorf composer, producer and sounddesigner Tom Blankenberg. 13 minimal solo piano tracks in an undefined mixture of classical, jazz, avant-garde, score and song are creating a unique Neo-Film-Noir soundtrack with subtle, melancholic melodies rising over dense and tensioned harmonies, “Like an impressionistic painting” a listener once said. Or „Reminds me of japanese minimalism”. No effects, no loops and no electronics. Piano monologs – intimate, delicate, quiet and deep.
Sleepy Songs
(neoclassical, solo piano)
Johan Eckman started to work with, what would later become, Sleepy Songs around 2011 since he wanted to make relaxing music for kids. He made an album, burnt it out (one copy only) and gave to a pre-school. Then he though; I might as well upload it to Spotify as well. And so he did.
Then he made made another record, and then another one. And after that a couple of singles.
Sleepy Songs is all about the piano.
Simple as that.
William Ogmundson
(neoclassical, instrumental)
William Ogmundson is a pianist, lyricist and EMMY-nominated composer. He has performed all over North America and Europe (including the Vatican) and released seven solo CDs to date.
The Music
Christos Doukakis