PAPE, ANDY  

Andy Pape spent his youth in California, moving to Denmark at the age of sixteen. He studied with Ib Nørholm at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. With a wide range of influences including avant-garde performance theatre, jazz and rock, his music is accessible without being patronising, often juxtaposing an infectious wit with tragedy. He is drawn to theatrical concepts: aside from his five operas – Houdini the Great, The Boxer, Leonora Christine, Till Death Us Do and Simsalabad – his concert works often contain dramatic scenarios, such as the power struggle between pianist and page turner in Variations on ‘Nearer My God to Thee’.