Geoffrey Poole is a contemporary classical composer with a bold and independent outlook. Much of his most characteristic work has been inspired by the mutual interrogation of classical tradition and high folk traditions from Europe, Africa and Asia. English by birth in 1949 he has also lived in East Africa (1985-7) and in the USA as Visiting Fellow in Composition at Princeton (1997-8), and studied traditional performance in Korea (2008) and Gambia (2009). After a substantial career at Manchester he is currently Professor of Composition at Bristol University. He was married to composer Beth Wiseman from 1977 until her death in 2007, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts the same year.

His works include three string quartets commissioned by The Lindsays, orchestral music performed by the Halle, RLPO, BBCSO, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and others, choral music broadcast by The King’s Singers, the Tavener Consort / BCMG and a major concerto for vocalities, The Colour of My Song which was commissioned 2006 by the BBC Singers. Other colourful large-scale compositions are the Sheherazade-like voyage Sailing With Archangels for Wind Orchestra and some very unusual concertos: Two-Way Talking for Ghanean Drummer and 5 ensembles, Swans Reflecting Elephants for Javanese Gamelan and chamber orchestra, and Lucifer a black comedy for piano and 21 loud instruments. He has written several works for amateurs or younger players, including the widely known recorder pieces Skally Skarekrow’s Whistling Book, and Look Behind You!

A recorded pianist and conductor on occasion, Poole has also established a body of work as a critic and theorist, and has served on the North West Arts Board, BBC and SPNM Reading Panels, SPNM Board of Directors, and ISCM Board of Directors, and as advisor to RAE2008.

Geoffrey Poole’s music has been performed and broadcast worldwide. It is represented on Metier, ASC, Serendipity, RCA, Forsyth, Klavier, Art Fusion, Divine Art, and NMC recording labels and almost fifty of his eighty titles are published by Edition Peters.