Toby Charles Roundell

composer & educator

Toby Charles Roundell was born in London and currently works as a composer and teacher in China. His music pursues beauty, meditation and states of spiritual contemplation. In the past few years, he has worked almost exclusively with solo voice, and especially with the soprano Irene Kurka, exploring psalms, antiphons and books from the minor prophets. Together, Irene and Toby have recently released ‘Meditations on the Great Antiphons’ on Edition Wandleweiser Records.

He studied composition and performance at the Royal Northern College of Music and shortly after received a commendation in the hcmf// Young Composers’ Competition. In 2005, he attended group composition classes with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Kurten and he has participated in a number of advanced composition courses in the UK and abroad. More recently, he visited Haan for a period of composer mentoring with Antoine Beuger.

His music has been performed in North America, Europe and Asia by many leading advocates of contemporary and early music including: Rolf Hind, Nicolas Hodges, Michael Finnissy, Matthew Owens, Bozzini Quartet (Canada), Elysian Quartet, CoMA London, Exit 128 (USA), Francis Knights & Dulcis Venti, Athelas Sinfonietta (Denmark), L'viv Philharmonic (Ukraine), Shanghai Baroque Orchestra (China) etc.

In 2015, he won the honorable mention award in the L’viv Sacrarium for his 'Benedictus' for Mixed Choir and String Orchestra. In 2016, his 'Three Songs of William Shakespeare' was performed at the British Embassy Open Day at the British Ambassador's Residence in Beijing, China.

You can listen to Toby's music at soundcloud.com/toby.roundell, and contact him at troundell (at) hotmail.com