Alice Beckwith is an award-winning composer, currently writing on commission for St Endellion Easter Festival, &Piano Music Festival, and The Carice Singers. Mentored by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, she was one of 6 composers selected to participate in the 2023 Cheltenham Music Festival Composers’ Academy; and between 2020-22 she was composer-in-residence with Lodge Moor Children’s Choir.
A versatile composer of concert music, Alice's sound is lyrical and contemporary - her melodic sound firmly rooted in the British Isles - with an emphasis above all upon story-telling. Most recently her settings of Heinrich Brockes’ poetry, commissioned by Endelienta Baroque, are touring the UK as part of their Autumn EarthSong project. The Golden Thread [2022] - a cantata for mezzo and mixed ensemble themed around the Green Man and the Erlking - commissioned by the Green Man Art Gallery, Buxton, received a first London performance at the 2023 Tête à Tête Opera Festival.
Alice is a composer on Music Patron, a digital platform connecting composers with music lovers by bringing together the traditional concept of patronage with the impact of grassroots collective giving.
An animateur and music educator, Alice is a passionate advocate for arts engagement and accessibility. She runs a private studio teaching oboe and piano, and regularly delivers academic teaching and school workshops alongside her role as an ABRSM examiner. She is a trustee of Yorkshire Youth and Music and specialises in producing opera for small-scale venues.
From Halifax, West Yorkshire, Alice studied at the Junior RNCM before reading Music at Lincoln College, Oxford University; subsequently studying Composition at the Royal Academy of Music. Her music has been performed by The Carice Singers, CHROMA Ensemble, The Heath Quartet, Huw Watkins & Alexandra Wood, and Victoria Rule (Spitalfields Music).
Biography
Animateur | Repetiteur
After a memorable Opera North workshop whilst still at school, Alice discovered a love of opera through professional experience at Glyndebourne and English National Opera.
As an animateur and repetiteur, Alice contributes to opera and music education workshops in educational settings across the UK. As a workshop leader she has worked with Music in the Round / Chetham’s School of Music, Pelican Music / Good Shepherd Primary School, Music Basti / Delhi Orphanages, and ExCathedra / John Radcliffe Children’s Hospital.
She was a repetiteur for Mahogany Opera Group’s Snappy Operas schools projects (2019 / 2022), and staff accompanist for Children’s International Voices of Enfield between 2014-17.
Creative producer
Alice was the creative producer for the new bilingual children’s opera Henny Penny, from composer Julian Philips and librettist Stephen Plaice. In association with Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the opera promotes language and music-learning in UK primary schools.
She co-founded Salon Opera in 2015, producing chamber opera for private salons, performed by professional young artists. Productions included The Telephone/Menotti, Phaedra/Britten, and a festive adaptation of The Messiah/Handel.
Prior to this she was a project manager for YPIA (Young People In the Arts), and has worked with Ulverston International Music Festival, English National Opera, and Schott Music.
She currently produces the Manchester Middays concert series at the Bridgewater Hall.