Timothy Cape is a composer from Donegal who often performs his own pieces, or works closely with musicians to find a connection between their idiosyncrasies and his, prioritising a direct communication with the audience. Exploring the psychological effects of post-fordist labour, his recent work uses performative processes to destroy ideological uses of language and rearrange them into new, mysterious languages which are then treated musically to summon ghosts of past events and invoke desired futures.
In 2022 he was selected for the Venice Biennale Music College, which includes a festival commission for Italian percussion trio Ars Ludi and Soprano Esther Rispens. Other Commissions included hcmf// (UK), Kirkos Ensemble (IE) and percussionist Angela Hui Wai Nok (five performances internationally), Spitalfields Festival and Britten Pears foundation. Three of his pieces have had live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 since ’16, and international performances include Spor Festival DK, Aldeburgh Festival UK, Perifirein NO, Music Current IE, and Constellations US. He is a member of Bastard Assignments, a group of composer-performers called “one of the most exciting forces in contemporary music” (Financial Times ’20) and “at the forefront of London’s DIY new music scene” (Neue Zeitung fur Musik ’19).
