fernandoroche

I’m a composer, singer, and keyboardist from Auckland, NZ. I’ve graduated with my Honours degree (with First Class Honours) in Composition at the University of Auckland.

I have written for various chamber and jazz groups, as well as orchestral and film scores, and choral music. The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, NZTrio and The Graduate Choir NZ are among some of the groups I have written for, of which have workshopped and performed my pieces in public performances. My compositions have also won awards, notably the Llewelyn Jones Piano Composition Prize and the Douglas Lilburn Composition Prize at the University of Auckland.

In 2022, I wrote and conceptualised the music for the film Can’t Beat Wellington on a Good Night, where Old-Hollywood style dance was devised around the jazz orchestral track. The film went on to screen in a number of small festivals in Wellington.

My stylistic influences derive from a breadth of her listening explorations from an early age, from contemporary gospel, to American minimalism, to modern jazz fusion. Notable composers and musicians she pens as inspirations include Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Darcy James Argue, Steve Reich, and Joe Hisaishi. A major focus for my compositional enquiry revolves around the blending of the two soundscapes of jazz and contemporary classical, a discourse constantly on my radar.