Marc Harris Music
ABOUT MARC
Marc's fascination and engagement with music stems back to the concerts he was taken to as a small child. He was keen to play the piano from a very young age, and continued to play in bars and restaurants through university and beyond. He brings a lifetime of ranging musical interests to his own compositions, and these references ripple throughout all his works.
Time to compose was an unexpected gift from the dark heart of lockdown; having dedicated his working life to running a successful safari business, he had had little time for much else, but continued playing keyboards for a number of different bands around town. When COVID struck Marc suddenly found time to write the music he had been dreaming of for decades. With the office to himself & with nothing but a couple of keyboards and no one but speakers for company, the music began to flow...
With invaluable guidance and advice from his mentor, Jo Reeves, Marc began developing and expanding his musical ambitions. From a small score the work became a fully-conceived symphony for a full orchestra and 2 dozen singers; Symphony No.1 - Shifting Sands. Jo gathered musicians from the Guildhall and Royal College of Music to perform the work in London to great acclaim in June 2021, and Marc went on to record a version with the Northern Film Orchestra later that year.
Symphony No.1 - Shifting Sands won 2nd prize at the 2022 Petrichor International Music Competition.
Marc is currently working on his second symphony, co-written with Jo, and this will be performed live in London in June 2023. Meanwhile, Marc continues to play a heady mix of Latin, Funk and Blues on keyboards. He has played for a huge number of different bands over the years, and particularly enjoys gigging with his own band, Patchwork.
He holds an MA from University of Cambridge and is an associate of the London Symphony Orchestra’s Soundhub.
He lives in Southwest London with his wife Annie, 2 children and arguably too many keyboards...
INFLUENCES
Marc’s music draws on influences ranging from the the composers of the Classical and Romantic eras to progressive rock bands of the '60's and '70's. He has a particular interest in music for film and the music of the great Russian composers.
His life long passion for travel and exploration to some of the most remote corners of the world inspires and shapes all of his works.
REVIEWS AND COMPETITONS
"The music of Marc Harris has a clear tonal basis, a great melodic & thematic richness and a wonderful sense of form & architecture – his three-movement work is one, great cohesive whole, with a great contrast of moods & emotion, and is brilliantly and effectively orchestrated. The Northern Film Orchestra, under the direction of Melvin Tay, and the Choir, conducted by Anna Beresford, give a superb performance of this work - deeply expressive and with a great balance and clarity of lines."
"Symphony No. 1 – Shifting Sands from composer Marc Harris is a powerful work of great expression from an exciting voice in contemporary music."
Phoenix Classical
From the ominous restraint of the opening, it is clear this is a piece of serious intent. Inspired by the landscapes of Africa, South America, and Asia, Marc Harris’ first symphony is ambitious, and the result is a remarkable achievement. A chorus sings in Latin (the text draws heavily on the Book of Revelation from the Christian Bible). CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
Fanfare Archive
“The shifting sands will devour the temples of man.” That’s the superscription for this three-movement symphony for choir, orchestra and organ. So, is this a work that stands inspirational comparison with Shelley’s Ozymandias: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone / Stand in the desert. … My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: / Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” Harris’s selected words travel the same track-way. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
Music web international
" Marc has skilfully woven together many different musical elements, paying reference to some of the great composers of the past whilst also delivering a sound with a modern, cinematic edge, taking inspiration from film scores. The symphony is composed for a full orchestra plus choir and church organ, allowing for a large difference in use of dynamics between the different moments of the piece. There is also a strong Arabic and middle eastern flavour running through the symphony in its use of harmony, which combined with the choir gives the piece a slightly timeless and ancient quality.
Overall, the listener is treated to an epic musical landscape which ebbs and flows like rolling sand dunes in the desert."
Jack Hughes, Northern Film Orchestra
“I hear 1932 -2011: John Barry, John Williams and Max X Steiner (KONG!) very Korsakov-like and at the end of 3rd movement I hear Glass, (as in KOYANIQATSI, different instrumentation of course), good clarinets and their usage alongside the bottom strings in a Tango/Milonga habanera type suggestion, very rhapsodic with the chorus-definitely cinematic and impressionistic; Phrygian and arabesque… Love the woodwinds swirling around the brass like eels."
Tontxi Vazquez, Director, Producer and Screenwriter
2nd Prize winner - Music for large ensembles / orchestras / choirs
2022 Petrichor International Music Competition
CATALOGUE OF WORKS
Symphony No. 1 'Shifting Sands'
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Shifting Sands is a classical symphony for the new millennium, conceived during the darkest days of the pandemic. As the dust settles and the world seeks balance again, this music continues to spin us from the shifting sands of Arabia to the endless plains of the Serengeti, the wild steppes of Asia to the rainforests of Central and South America, howling back in rage at the powers of creation.
To buy a signed physical CD or USB please email
New Dawn
A work for strings, choir, and organ.
Listen on SOUNDCLOUD
New Dawn is a work of hope following on from the symphonic expressions of Shifting Sands. This is music that seeks to explore the possibilities for life born anew as the darkness lifts and the landscape reforms under us. The art of this work is to convey how heartfelt, artistic expressions of music may guide us back to a point of stability and promise, and bring hope in the world to come.
Premier in St Mary's Church, London SW15 on July 2nd 2023
The CD will be available shortly after
PERFORMANCES
SYMPHONY NO.1 - SHIFTING SANDS, Mary's Church, June 2021
SYMPHONY NO.1 - SHIFTING SANDS, performed by the Northern Film Orchestra, August 2021
NEW DAWN, St Mary's Church June 2022
RESOURCES
SYMPHONY NO.1 - Shifting Sands
Full Conductor 's Score
SYMPHONY NO.1 - Shifting Sands
Lyrics and Translation
New Dawn
Full Conductor 's Score
Gallery
OTHER LINKS
Patchwork
Jo Reeves
Session gig for Danny Worsnop
Northern Film Orchestra
BBC interview with Alice Dale
CONTACT
