Oliver Coates plays the cello and produces electronic music. In the past year as a solo artist he has performed in China, Russia, Brazil and across Europe. He begins a new solo tour this autumn following the release of his album Towards the blessed islands, making his New York debut at Le Poisson Rouge at the end of September.
 
His arrangement of the Boards of Canada track “In a Beautiful Place out in the Country” was produced with Mira Calix and released on the Warp 20th anniversary box set to wide acclaim. He followed this with an album of drone and micro electronic sounds with Leo Abrahams, called Crystals are Always Forming. His first full-length solo album Towards the blessed islands was released on 12-inch vinyl, CD and download, 9/12/13 on PRAH recordings. The album is the first release on an imprint dedicated to abstract contemporary and experimental music from Stephen Bass. The Wire magazine described it as “an itinerant love letter to the instrument, an album of deep resonance and fleeting harmonics.” The Guardian reviewed it for having “subtly devastating results”, “like a message delivered over a sea wind.”
 
Oliver is known for his collaborations with some of the leading contemporary musicians in many genres. He has performed Music for 18 Musicians with Steve Reich. He has worked on Jonny Greenwood’s music, featuring on the soundtrack to The Master as well as performing the string concerto Doghouse. He is one of few musicians to have played live with the rapper DOOM. He is a frequent collaborator with Micachu, both live and in recording, having established the collaboration Chopped & Screwed with the London Sinfonietta. Oliver’s harmonics and textures can be heard throughout the film Under the Skin, soundtracked by Mica Levi. He has worked with drummer Sebastian Rochford and on a variety of projects, both free improvising and set music in the studio. Earlier in his career, Oliver was involved in tv and film projects with Goldie, Massive Attack and Sigur Rós.
 
He has worked with many of the great modern composers, including Helmut Lachenmann, Jonathan Harvey, Kaija Saariaho, Sofia Gubaidulina, David Lang, and Thomas Adès. Many of the leading young composers have written music for him, including David Fennessy, Andrew Hamilton, Emily Hall, Anna Meredith, Larry Goves and Nico Muhly. He has performed alongside Oren Ambarchi and has improvised on graphic and concept scores by Jennifer Walshe.
 
Oliver’s awards include the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award 2011 and he is an Artist in Residence at Southbank Centre, London. He curates Harmonic Series at Southbank Centre, which has featured early live shows by James Blake, Anna Meredith, Olivia Chaney, performance artists Dori Deng & Meta Drcar, music by Thomas Adès, Micachu, Alvin Lucier, films about Jackson Pollock and Agnes Martin. This season Harmonic Series teams up with PAN to present a bold night of new electronic music and film, featuring new work from Mark Leckey and Florian Hecker.
 
More recently he has been exploring different approaches to space, architecture and music making. Earlier this year he made a project with the field recordist Chris Watson based on music by Britten and environmental sounds in Suffolk. He also built an installation called The Seafarer in the dark corridors around the Royal Festival Hall boiler room, using music by Messiaen and projecting old Anglo-Saxon poetry. With the London Contemporary Orchestra, he recently performed music from Stockhausen’s Klang in Roundhouse, London, dressed in Vivienne Westwood. He has also performed concertos with Aurora Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia and the Neojiba Youth Orchestra of Bahia.
 
In addition to solo sets and recitals for festivals around the world Oliver performs as a principal cellist with many of the UK’s leading orchestras. These include Aurora Orchestra, London Contemporary Orchestra and guest spots with London Sinfonietta, Britten Sinfonia, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.