Paul Usher Partita for solo piano duration: 25 minutes Partita for solo piano All the pieces in this collection are related in some way to two well-known songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim: ('Garota de lpanema' is the basis of 1, 3, 5 & 7; 'Desafinado' of 2, 4 & 6). The relationship may be one of straightforward variation (No. 5); paraphrase (No. 6); or more obscure derivations such as variation of a paraphrase (No. 4). Paul Usher was born in London and studied music at the Royal Academy of Music; Kings College, London; the University of York and Royal Holloway, University of London. His teachers have included David Lumsdaine, Nicola Lefanu, David Blake and John Woolrich. Paul's music has been performed at the Dartington International Summer School, the Bath Festival, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and at the Theatre Dunois in Paris, by groups including Gemini, The Composers Ensemble, Ensemble Aleph and the Arditti String Quartet. In 1999 he was given the Yorkshire Arts Young Composers Award. Back to shortlist.