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Robert Fokkens is a South African composer based in London. His music has been performed in many major venues in the UK including the Wigmore Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, the Purcell Room, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, the Riverside Studios, the Warehouse, Oxford’s Holywell Music Room, and the Battersea Arts Centre; and at festivals including the Spitalfields Festival, the Park Lane Group New Year Series, the Fresh Festival at the South Bank Centre, the Almeida Festival, the Buxton Festival and Tête-à-tête Opera’s The Opera Festival. His music is also heard frequently in South Africa, and has been performed in Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, the USA and Japan, and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. His music has been published in the journal The Liberal and recorded on the Herald label by the Oxford-based choir Commotio.
Robert studied at the University of Cape Town and the Royal Academy of Music, holding the Manson Fellowship at the RAM after completing all of his degrees with distinction. During this time he worked with many composers including George Crumb, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Thomas Adès, Simon Bainbridge, Poul Ruders, Dominic Muldowney and Mauricio Kagel. He has recently completed his PhD at the University of Southampton, where he was supervised by Michael Finnissy.
Throughout his studies, Robert was generously supported by a number of prizes and scholarships, including a Countess of Munster Musical Trust bursary, the South African Music Rights Organisation Overseas Scholarship, a National Arts Council of South Africa award, an Overseas Research Scheme scholarship, and a bursary awarded by the Royal Academy of Music. His doctoral studies were also supported by a University of Southampton Major Studentship.