Biography

Alistair Zaldua is a composer of contemporary, experimental, and improvised music and has written work for chamber, orchestral, solo forces and live electronics. His work has received performances from highly acclaimed ensembles and performers such as: ensemble surplusEnsemble AventureEnsemble ModernComposers Slide Quartet, and Ian PaceMark KnoopJonathan Powell,  Rei NakamuraAdam LinsonLauren Redhead. Most recently, his work has focused on collaboration and improvisation with a range of musicians and artists from musical and other backgrounds.  He currently performs work for organ and live electronics in duet with Lauren Redhead, and violin as part of Trio CZW, which is an improvisation trio with Paul Cheneour (flutes) and Maureen Wolloshin (oboes). Recently Alistair has increased his involvement as an improviser and is currently working on upcoming projects with Alwynne Pritchard, Franziska Baumann, and Sam Bailey. 

In 2018 his work manifesto for speaker and large ensemble was selected as a prize winner for the Wilde Lieder Marx.Music Composition Competition by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and was performed in Trier, Germany, and in Birmingham, and was later released on CD (COV91914). 

In 2019, Duo Redhead-Zaldua received funding from the Hinrichsen Foundation, Goldsmiths Innovation, Creativity and Experience Research Unit and the Pro Helvetia Foundation (Switzerland) to enable collaborative work with composers Ailís ní Ríain (IE), Nina Whiteman (GB), and Annette Schmucki (CH). In 2020 this programme has been performed at the Ideas of Noise Festival (Birmingham), the Electric Spring Festival (Huddersfield) and in Bristol. Recent compositions include Laruelle’s Film (2019) for bass clarinet, piano and contrabass (Low Frequency Trio, Mexico City), and Captain Swing (2019-2020) for narrator, vocal ensemble, improvising orchestra, and live electronics. His work as a performer of violin and electronics also features on the collaborative album hearmleoþ-gieddunga (Chicago: pan y rosas discos, 2018) with Lauren Redhead. As a result of the critical success of this album Duo Redhead-Zaldua were invited to perform at the KontraKlang concert series in Berlin (2018), the nyMusikk Only Connect Festival in Stavanger, Norway (2019) and at the Tectonics Festival in Glasgow in May 2021.

In 2020 he was a recipient of a Sound and Music COVID-19 Composer Award, and received a grant from Arts Council UK Emergency Response Fund to record an album of compositions for violin (October 1st 2020). 

In 2021 he received a Develop Your Creative Practice (DYCP) grant from Arts Council England to develop his improvisation on the e-violin and live electronics, with Alwynne Pritchard as his mentor. While one of the main aims was to compose set material for a solo performance, this project has become about developing approaches to improvisation both as a soloist and with others. Performances that have been scheduled as part of this project are set for March with Sam Bailey (in support of Zubin Kanga’s appearance at Free Range Concert Series, Canterbury), with Franziska Baumann in London (June/July) and with Alwynne Pritchard in Bergen, Norway (June) as artist in residence at the Neither/Nor residency space in June 2022.

International and festival performances: Göteborg Art Sounds (2016), SuperNormal (2016), Alchemy Film and Moving Image (2015), Huddersfield Festival (2014), Sampler Series Barcelona (2014), Borealis (Bergen, Norway, 2014), Leeds New Music Festival (2013),REM (Bremen, 2011), UsineSonore (Malleray-Bevilard, Switzerland, 2012), Música Nova (Sao Paolo, 2006), Quantensprünge ZKM (Karlsruhe, 2007 & 2008), amongst others.