John Pickard (composer)

John Pickard (born 11 September 1963) is a British classical composer. Biography Pickard was born in Burnley, Lancashire, England. He studied music and composition at the University of Wales, with Welsh composer William Mathias, and later in the Netherlands with Louis Andriessen and in 1989 was awarded a PhD in composition from the University of Wales. Since 1993 he has taught at the University of Bristol, where he is Professor of Composition and Applied Musicology, and was Head of Music between 2009 and 2013, and again between 2017 and 2018. Pickard is also conductor of the University of Bristol Symphony Orchestra and Choral Society. Pickard has composed a number of critically well-received orchestral and instrumental works, among them six symphonies and a number of symphonic works, including perhaps his best-known piece, The Flight of Icarus, which the San Francisco Chronicle called “a translucent and achingly lovely memorial to the fallen Icarus … a serious contender for the most exciting musical premiere of 2006”. His orchestral writing has been highly praised: in March 2008 The Times commented that “his orchestral mastery is total”, while, in April 2008 The Guardian describe