Two Quick ‘On & Off’ Questions: Kate Whitley

With only a few days to our rehearsals start here is the third of our super short interviews leading up to our ‘ON & OFF’ tour (18th-21st February), this time with composer and pianist Kate Whitley.

WUE: In what way does your piece respond to the ‘On & Off’ theme?

Kate: I love the little fragments of sounds in On  And Off And To And Fro, the delicate gestures and ideas that flit by. I tried to explore a similar idea in my piece, although on a totally different sound level! It is a fun piece to respond to because it’s so bold and disjointed.

WUE: What music are you into at the moment?

I am learning some tiny Kurtag pieces at the moment, which has got me really into his music! As well as Jonathan Harvey whose Tombeau de Messaien I am playing in February.

Here is Kurtag performing his amazing Perpetuum Mobile: