“Art itself cannot change the world: it’s the community that surrounds it who can.”
adapted from Klang Magazine
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What is PRXLUDES?
PRXLUDES is an online contemporary music magazine, platform, and resource dedicated to the promotion of the work of emerging composers. PRXLUDES’ most prominent format consists of in-depth interviews diving into the practices of emerging composers — alongside guest articles, track-by-track analyses, and more.
The predominant aims of this magazine are to:
1. Serve as a public platform on which emerging composers can showcase their work and talk about their practice publicly, facilitated by a nonpressurised and supportive environment, and in a manner most authentic to themselves;
2. Create a community of interconnected, emerging artists creating cutting-edge work and collaborating with each other, both within the UK and internationally;
3. Provide resources for emerging composers — both featured artists and readers — shedding light on the contemporary music landscape, navigating the music industry, and giving advice and guidance on being a composer in 2023;
4. Furthering the accessibility of contemporary music to both classical and nonclassical audiences.
Why emerging composers?
Historically, the precedent has been that major press outlets dedicated to classical music feature almost exclusively established artists and composers, or composers working with established ensembles or organisations. While we definitely aren’t against places in which these established artists are featured, there is a sizable gap between the stages of starting one’s career as a composer to gaining national and international renown — in which press, coverage, and features are incredibly hard to come by.
PRXLUDES offers a solution to this, as one of the only contemporary music magazines with a primary focus on emerging composers. We consider emerging composers to mean anything from students studying at university or conservatoire, to people with an ambitious artistic vision who have just started out, to DIY musicians building a community through their art, to artists with a proven track record whose work deserves an extra boost.
We strive to give a voice to composers whose work and talents have thus far been ignored by the mainstream contemporary music establishment. We aim to position ourselves as the middle-ground, featuring those whose voices are developing, as they develop, and in doing so create opportunities for emerging composers to further realise their ambitions. We aim to be a platform for discovery, in which audiences can discover up-and-coming talents. Who knows — perhaps you’ll find your new favourite composer here.
Who is a composer?
PRXLUDES uses Sound and Music’s definition of the term “composer”, that being: “any individual who creates new work using sound or music, whether they perform it themselves or write for others — and whether they work with software, with notes on paper, through improvisation, or in other ways.”
In addition, we see the act of composing as not a purely sonic activity — to us, artists whose primary disciplines are choreography, poetry, and curation are as much composers as those who work in purely musical forms.
We understand that the idea of the composer takes many different forms, and that the term is loaded with various connotations — both positive and negative. We understand that these are connotations that need to be challenged, and we strive to create an inclusive environment for all methods of music and art-creation.
Who is PRXLUDES for?
- For composers and music creators: providing a public platform to showcase your work and your practice, discover the works and practices of your contemporaries in music today, and start conversations about contemporary music with a focus on the newer and upcoming generations of composers;
- For performers, ensembles, and organisations: providing an encompassing resource to explore a catalogue of cutting-edge contemporary composers and practitioners from a wide variety of styles, learn in-depth about their disciplines using their own voices, and discover potential collaborators, opportunities, and composers to commission;
- For musicologists and academics: providing in-depth information about what contemporary music looks like in 2023, and showing a snapshot of our current artistic landscape;
- For music lovers: providing an accessible and unpretentious dive into artists working in contemporary and experimental musics, and an approachable entrance into discovering potential new favourite composers and music creators, away from the genre elitisms and connotations of the traditional “classical” model.
Who runs PRXLUDES?
PRXLUDES is currently run by a small team led by UK-based composers Zygmund de Somogyi and Patrick Ellis, alongside an informal group of composers and contributors. You can learn more about the history of PRXLUDES here.
How can I get involved?
If you’d like to stay updated on all of our latest news, interviews, and guest articles, please sign up to our newsletter (we’ll only email you periodically, when articles go live): Subscribe
If you’re a composer of any sort who believes their artistic practice and ethos fits what PRXLUDES can provide, send samples of your work to: hello (at) prxludes (dot) net. (Please note that we’re an incredibly small team, so we won’t be able to get back to everyone!)
And finally: PRXLUDES is an entirely DIY affair, with all of our daily costs coming out of pocket. If you are able to, we highly encourage you to donate to keep the platform alive: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/prxludes
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header image: excerpt from ‘SKIN’ by Emily Abdy. Installation at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, UK, 2019. Photo by Peter Bell. Learn more about Emily Abdy