A Royal Conservatoire lecturer has been awarded a prestigious UK-wide music prize for composition.

Dr Tim Cooper, who teaches music technology, is the recipient of the Tippett Medal for his work Labyrinth, a piece for baroque cello and electronics, written in collaboration with cellist Lucia Capellaro.

The Tippett Medal is awarded by the Royal Musical Association in memory of composer Michael Tippett, a passionate believer in social equality and musical education.

The piece is part of a larger cycle of works – shadows that in darkness dwell – exploring the life and music of English Renaissance composer John Dowland.

It was composed for a group that formed out of Tim’s composition research called Ensemble 1604 featuring Lucia, Laszlo Rozsa, Alex McCartney and Rory McCleery.

Tim said: “Labyrinth is a result of the work I did with all four of my colleagues, it was a kind of end point for that set of pieces and the collaboration with Lucia benefitted from all the work we’d done together across the rest of the cycle.

“The funding I received from the RCS Research Degrees Committee was vital to the composition process, the time and space to play and experiment collaboratively with Lucia made a huge difference.

“My practice developed so quickly, and the resulting work was so much stronger than it would have been without Lucia’s input.

“It also helped Lucia develop a kind of ‘sixth sense’ for interpreting my music which makes the performances of the piece really vibrant and detailed.”

The judges were impressed with the “arresting and accomplished writing” of this “strikingly focused and assured” piece.

Listen to shadows that in darkness dwell.

Tim was also a recent finalist in Musique Recherches– one of Europe’s most prestigious electroacoustic competitions.

Tim said: “Having my piece performed by another composer was really interesting, in electroacoustic concerts if the composer is present, they would normally perform their own work, and this was the first time I’d heard another composer interpret my purely electroacoustic music.

“Each of the works in the final of the competition were really beautiful, and it was inspiring to hear work of that quality.”

Tim’s current projects include a new trumpet and electronics piece composed for Hilde Marie Holsen, commissioned by Northern Connections, that will be performed at Ultima Festival in Norway in September.

“I’m really looking forward to working with Hilde who has a varied background as a jazz musician and experimental improviser who plays with electronics. It will be interesting to explore Hilde’s background in our work together.

“My other project is continuing my work with Ensemble 1604, this time exploring historical science featuring Robert Hooke’s work on microscopes.

“Hooke published incredible hand-drawn images of the specimens he examined with his microscope in 1655 and the work we’re developing will be composed for Ensemble 1604, with electronics and video, using Hooke’s words and drawings as inspiration.

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Ensemble 1604 images © Andy Catlin