Cheryl Frances-Hoad facts for kids

Cheryl Ann Frances-Hoad (born in 1980) is a talented British composer. She writes many different kinds of music, from operas to orchestral pieces.

Early Life and Music Beginnings

Cheryl Frances-Hoad started writing music when she was just eight years old. At that time, she was also learning to play the cello and piano. She studied at the famous Yehudi Menuhin School. Later, she went to Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge University. She earned two degrees there, including one in composition.

Becoming a Composer

Cheryl Frances-Hoad has written music for many important groups and events. She has created two ballets, which are dance performances with music. One of her ballets was performed by the Scottish Ballet in London.

She has also been asked to write music for big organizations like the BBC. Other groups that asked her to compose include the Manchester International Cello Festival and the Almeida Festival.

In 2000, the Cambridge Music Festival asked her to write a piece. This music celebrated 250 years since the famous composer Bach died. The Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra performed it.

In 2001, her first small opera, broken lines: sonata for opera, was performed for the first time. An opera is a play where the words are sung.

New Music Premieres

Many of Cheryl's pieces have been performed for the very first time, which is called a "premiere."

• In 2002, two of her works premiered at the Spitalfields Festival and Wigmore Hall.
• Another cello piece was first played at the Wigmore Hall in October 2002.
• The Zurich Chamber Orchestra also asked her to write a new piece.

Cheryl was one of six composers chosen for an opera project called Family Matters. This opera was based on a famous play. It was performed in London and then toured around the country in 2004.

In 2005, a group of songs called The Glory Tree was first performed. These songs were inspired by ancient rituals and sung in Old English!

Recent Works

In 2012, her opera Amy's Last Dive was created. She wrote this while working with Opera North and Leeds University.

Her dance piece Quark Dances was performed by the Rambert Dance Company in 2014.

Two of her works were first performed at the famous BBC Proms festival in 2017. These were Ein Feste Burg and From the Beginning of the World.

In 2018, a 30-minute piece called Last Man Standing premiered. It was for a singer and an orchestra. The BBC Symphony Orchestra performed it.

More recently, in 2022, her 70-minute song cycle Scenes from the Wild was performed. Also that year, a short piece called Your servant, Elizabeth premiered at the BBC Proms.

In 2023, the cellist Laura van der Heijden performed Cheryl's Cello Concerto for the first time. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra played with her.

Later in 2023, King's College, Cambridge asked Cheryl to write a new Christmas carol. This carol, called The Cradle, was sung at their famous Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve.

Prizes and Scholarships

Cheryl Frances-Hoad has won many awards and scholarships for her music. These awards recognize her talent and help her continue her work.

Some of her prizes include:

• The Purcell Composition Prize
• The Bach Choir Carol Competition
• The BBC Young Composers Workshop (1996)
• The Robert Helps Prize

She also received the Mendelssohn Scholarship in 2002.

In 2006, she won the $10,000 Robert Helps Prize for her piece My fleeting Angel. After winning, she became a Composer-in-Residence at the University of South Florida for a week. There, she taught students about composing.

Her piece My Day in Hell was first performed at the Cheltenham Festival. This happened after she won the Cheltenham Festival Commission in the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize.

Albums

Cheryl Frances-Hoad has released several albums featuring her music. An album is a collection of recorded musical pieces.

• The Glory Tree: Chamber Works (2011): This album features eight pieces written between 1999 and 2008.
• You Promised Me Everything (2014): This album includes various vocal works, meaning songs for singers.
• Stolen Rhythm (2017): This album has orchestral and chamber works. Chamber works are for smaller groups of instruments.
• Even You Song (2017): This is a work for choir and organ.
• Magic Lantern Tales (2018): This album is a collection of her songs.
• The Whole Earth Dances (2020): This album features nine chamber works written from 1998 to 2018.