“I was boxed in as a child by a mechanical brace to straighten the spine. I therefore felt a strong need to express myself in a way that I could not do just through speech. Playing the piano and composing fulfilled that need”.
Awards -
Colin Decio (the 'c' is pronounced 'ch' as in 'church' - hence Dech-io: Ukrainian) studied piano performing, classical guitar and composition at the Birmingham School of Music (now Royal Birmingham Conservatoire), England, graduating with five diplomas including a distinction in composition.
Since moving to Aotearoa in 2016 Colin has composed many new works - Piano Sonata No.10, Sakura, ex cathedra, Preludes (Book 2) - for solo piano
Chamber works - Flute Sonatina, Oboe Sonatina, Clarinet Sonatinas 1 & 2, Bassoon Sonatinas 1 & 2 (written during the lock-down of 2020)
Chorale for Three Bassoons (Winner of the New Zealand Double Reed Society Chamber Music Competition July 2018)
Snatch! (for solo clarinet - this work reached the final of the Auckland Clarinet Composition competition 2018)
Hokey-Pokey (a short fun work for tuba and piano)
Barcarolle for cornet and piano - (Highly Commended in the Sounz Brass Composition Competition 2020)
Viola Sonata No2, Cello Sonatina No3
Tiora Tioro for solo viola - (Commended in the Australia and New Zealand Viola Composition Competition 2021)
Lord Have Mercy for viol consort
Piano Trios 3 & 4
String Quartets 4, 5, 6 & 7
Stolypin's necktie - for string quartet
Suite for string quartet
Harlequinade for string quartet
Study No.1 for violin solo
Primum non nocere - for harp solo
Wind Octet
Wind Trio No.1
Zwischenspiele I - IV & V, Golden Threads for recorder consort
Awkward Dance No.1 for piano solo (Winner of the TAVAC Composition Competition 2022)
Full orchestra - Parihaka (which includes a requiem to those who so tragically lost their lives) and A Day Trip to White Island/Whakaare: both works were inspired by historical and recent events. More recently a four-movement Violin Concerto, a four-movement Cello Concerto, Organ Concerto and Symphony No.3.
Colin has written many works for solo piano including ten sonatas, fourteen sonatinas, two books of preludes - fantasies, suites, rags and two piano concertos: including Piano Concerto No.1 'in memoriam John Ogdon'.
His first two symphonies were both partly inspired by the beautiful Cotswold countryside in the UK and speak of the Cotswold hills and dales giving reference to local places Cleeve Common and Toddington.
Works for the voice inspired by the Cotswolds are settings of the poems of Dymock poet John Drinkwater
Souvenir D’Anne Frank based on Piano Trio No.1 (‘Het Achterhuis’) toured the UK in 2011- 2012 with the blessing of Buddy Elias, Anne Frank’s cousin.
The play involved two actors and an onstage piano trio in Brechtian style. The stage itself was strewn with a large circle of white roses (set design by Richard Aylwin). Recordings from World War II announcements were used to set the scene.
In 2010 Colin organised a chamber music series, which included premieres of his String Quartet No. 2, Piano Sonata No. 5, Cello Sonatina no.1, and Noel! Noel! - for eight hands and one piano.
Colin studied composition with Andrew Downes, a former pupil of Herbert Howells and piano with Frank Wibaut, John Humphreys, Roma Foster, and Paul Slater.
Masterclasses in piano and composition with - John Ogdon, Robert Saxton, Bryan Kelly, John Joubert and Ernst Meyer.
Colin performs regularly as a solo pianist, and is accompanist to singers and instrumentalists. His work with Anglo/French soprano Evelyne Beech explored the repertoire of Faure, Poulenc, Debussy, Berlioz and Decio, and led to the creation of several CD recordings including, most notably,
Cotswold Songs; a collection of song-cycles, solo songs and piano pieces by Colin.
He has given many solo recitals throughout the UK and with his wife, performance poet, Ingrid Prosser. In 2005, he performed a concert tour of both the North and the South Islands of New Zealand.
In 1996 Colin was awarded a PGCE in Secondary Music Education from the University of East Anglia.
Colin has been a professional keyboard player and musical director performing in many showbands throughout the UK and on cruise ships based in Singapore and Athens.
- 'First Prize' in the TAVAC Composition Competition 2022
- 'Commended' in the Australia and New Zealand Viola Society Winter Composition Competition 2021
- 'Highly Commended' in the Sounz Brass Composition Competition 2020
- 'First Prize & The Audience Award' in the New Zealand Double Reed Society Chamber Music Competition July 2018
- 'Winner' of the Burke Trophy for Advanced Piano 1986
- 'Winner' of the John Ireland Chamber Music Prize 1986
- 'Winner' of the Birmingham Midland Institute Composition Prize 1986
- 'Winner' of the piano section of the Ludlow Philharmonic Concerto Competition 1986
Colin Decio (the 'c' is pronounced 'ch' as in 'church' - hence Dech-io: Ukrainian) studied piano performing, classical guitar and composition at the Birmingham School of Music (now Royal Birmingham Conservatoire), England, graduating with five diplomas including a distinction in composition.
Since moving to Aotearoa in 2016 Colin has composed many new works - Piano Sonata No.10, Sakura, ex cathedra, Preludes (Book 2) - for solo piano
Chamber works - Flute Sonatina, Oboe Sonatina, Clarinet Sonatinas 1 & 2, Bassoon Sonatinas 1 & 2 (written during the lock-down of 2020)
Chorale for Three Bassoons (Winner of the New Zealand Double Reed Society Chamber Music Competition July 2018)
Snatch! (for solo clarinet - this work reached the final of the Auckland Clarinet Composition competition 2018)
Hokey-Pokey (a short fun work for tuba and piano)
Barcarolle for cornet and piano - (Highly Commended in the Sounz Brass Composition Competition 2020)
Viola Sonata No2, Cello Sonatina No3
Tiora Tioro for solo viola - (Commended in the Australia and New Zealand Viola Composition Competition 2021)
Lord Have Mercy for viol consort
Piano Trios 3 & 4
String Quartets 4, 5, 6 & 7
Stolypin's necktie - for string quartet
Suite for string quartet
Harlequinade for string quartet
Study No.1 for violin solo
Primum non nocere - for harp solo
Wind Octet
Wind Trio No.1
Zwischenspiele I - IV & V, Golden Threads for recorder consort
Awkward Dance No.1 for piano solo (Winner of the TAVAC Composition Competition 2022)
Full orchestra - Parihaka (which includes a requiem to those who so tragically lost their lives) and A Day Trip to White Island/Whakaare: both works were inspired by historical and recent events. More recently a four-movement Violin Concerto, a four-movement Cello Concerto, Organ Concerto and Symphony No.3.
Colin has written many works for solo piano including ten sonatas, fourteen sonatinas, two books of preludes - fantasies, suites, rags and two piano concertos: including Piano Concerto No.1 'in memoriam John Ogdon'.
His first two symphonies were both partly inspired by the beautiful Cotswold countryside in the UK and speak of the Cotswold hills and dales giving reference to local places Cleeve Common and Toddington.
- Symphony No. 1 received a standing ovation at its premiere on June 7th, 2008, in Gloucester Cathedral performed by the Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Finch. The Mayor of Gloucester and his wife attended the occasion.
- Symphony No. 2 was premiered by the Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Curtis in 2005 in Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham. The final movement is marked ‘Gustav Holst in memoriam’. The symphony is dedicated to Lord Nigel Jones. In the finale there is a Ukrainian folk tune taught to Colin by his relatives when he visited them in the post-Soviet Ukraine.
- Symphony No.3 is 'dedicated to the Ukrainian people' (2022)
Works for the voice inspired by the Cotswolds are settings of the poems of Dymock poet John Drinkwater
- Cotswold Songs, a song cycle for high voice and piano
- A Sabbath Day for mezzo-soprano and guitar
- Songs of Travel for tenor and piano
Souvenir D’Anne Frank based on Piano Trio No.1 (‘Het Achterhuis’) toured the UK in 2011- 2012 with the blessing of Buddy Elias, Anne Frank’s cousin.
The play involved two actors and an onstage piano trio in Brechtian style. The stage itself was strewn with a large circle of white roses (set design by Richard Aylwin). Recordings from World War II announcements were used to set the scene.
In 2010 Colin organised a chamber music series, which included premieres of his String Quartet No. 2, Piano Sonata No. 5, Cello Sonatina no.1, and Noel! Noel! - for eight hands and one piano.
Colin studied composition with Andrew Downes, a former pupil of Herbert Howells and piano with Frank Wibaut, John Humphreys, Roma Foster, and Paul Slater.
Masterclasses in piano and composition with - John Ogdon, Robert Saxton, Bryan Kelly, John Joubert and Ernst Meyer.
Colin performs regularly as a solo pianist, and is accompanist to singers and instrumentalists. His work with Anglo/French soprano Evelyne Beech explored the repertoire of Faure, Poulenc, Debussy, Berlioz and Decio, and led to the creation of several CD recordings including, most notably,
Cotswold Songs; a collection of song-cycles, solo songs and piano pieces by Colin.
He has given many solo recitals throughout the UK and with his wife, performance poet, Ingrid Prosser. In 2005, he performed a concert tour of both the North and the South Islands of New Zealand.
In 1996 Colin was awarded a PGCE in Secondary Music Education from the University of East Anglia.
Colin has been a professional keyboard player and musical director performing in many showbands throughout the UK and on cruise ships based in Singapore and Athens.
The Souvenir d'Anne Frank rose grown in Japan
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"A hand that knows the beauty of a rose flower cannot drop a bomb on Hiroshima" - Osho |
“My work was once described as ‘Dynamism’ - I like that name!"