About

Ewan Clark is a composer, orchestrator and conductor from New Zealand, currently based in London. Working with filmmakers in the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand and India, he is scoring a rapidly growing number of short films and other projects. From September 2011 Ewan will be studying towards an MMus in Composition for Screen at the Royal College of Music, having won an RCM Scholarship and the Edwin Carr Foundation Scholarship through Creative New Zealand. In the concert hall, Ewan's compositions have been performed by the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, the Southern Sinfonia and others, while his conducting performances include the NZ premiere of James MacMillan's Seven Last Words from the Cross, which has received repeated broadcasts.

Born in Dunedin, Ewan's early musical background was in orchestral and jazz trombone. In 1997-2000, he won various local and national music awards, including the 1998 New Zealand Young Composer's Award, which encouraged him to study for his Bachelor of Music in composition at the University of Otago. There he wrote Gethsemane (2000), a minimalist piece for strings later performed by the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. Gethsemane also features in the film Counting on Fingers by Adam Arkapaw, now a recipient of the Cannes Jury Prize for short film. Reverie (2000) for soprano, clarinet and piano has been well recieved at seven performances, and has recieved praise online from popular American composer Eric Whitacre. Ewan's successful concert works can be heard at http://soundcloud.com/ewan-clark and sheet music can be purchased from www.sounz.org.nz.

While at Victoria University of Wellington School of Music in 2001-5, Ewan furthered his studies, learning from the nation's finest composers, including John Psathas, composer for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. He also studied and gained much experience in conducting. While in Auckland (2006-9) he worked as a music teacher, film composer and as Musical Director of the Auckland Wind Orchestra. Prior to taking up study at the RCM, Ewan has taught in two of London's leading secondary school music departments: The London Oratory School and Jame Allen's Girls' School.