Alisdair J. Pickering
Arranger, Orchestrator, Performer, Teacher
When the arrangers have had their fun, it's the orchestrators we need (who often turn into arrangers themselves)! It doesn't matter how good your arrangement is, it will always need improving and tidying up for live performance and part production.
From adding flourishes, to knowing how much trombone you need, to adding counterpoint, to fixing barlines, it's a challenging job. Luckily for us, we have Alisdair, whose contributions are invaluable to the concert's existence.
Born in Blackpool, England, Alisdair Pickering is a composer, arranger and guitarist. He began playing guitar age 9, initially playing rock music until hearing the music of Pat Metheny as a teenager which converted him to jazz. During these years he studied under Pre-eminent gingerstyle guitarist Martin Taylor MBE. Through his association with Martin, he was introduced to renowned American arranger Dr Richard Niles (Paul McCartney, Pet Shop Boys, Pat Metheny, Bob Mintzer) and subsequently studied composition and arranging with Richard for 2 years.
In 2015 Alisdair left his native U.K and relocated to Amsterdam to study at The Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He is now in his 4th year of a Bachelors degree studying arranging and composition with Jurre Haanstra and Johan Plomp, and orchestration with Theo Verbey.
Alisdair has worked with the Metropole Orkest Academy under the tutelage of grammy award winning chief conductor Jules Buckley. Alisdair had his first orchestral work performed here ,an arrangement of material provided by special guest of the Metropole Henrik Schwarz.
Since entering the Conservatorium he has also worked along side, and had his big band arrangements performed by Rick Margitza, Seamus Blake, and David Linx. Each artist subsequently included Alisdair's arrangement in their own repertoire.
In 2018 Alisdair spent a week working with The United Soloists Symphony Orchestra in Lugano, Switzerland. His arrangements of composition by fellow CvA student, Enea Besana, were subsequently performed and broadcast on Swiss National TV and Radio.
Alisdair has also worked extensively with award winning London based film director Ryan J. Smith both composing and producing soundtracks for his movies. They have recently completed a co-directed documentary on the Amsterdam jazz scene, due to be released in early 2019.
For the last 3 years Alisdair has also been guitarist/arranger/composer with The Amsterdam Funk Orchestra, an 18 piece funk, afrobeat and jazz fusion big band. They are led by world renowned saxophonist Efraim Trujillo. They have performed extensively across The Netherlands including many jazz festivals, a TedX talk at TU Deflt, and appearances on Dutch prime time TV shows to audiences of over 2.5 million viewers. They also released their first CD recently titled ‘Pure Fiction' which was financed by a successful crowdfunding project, raising over €6000.
In April 2018 Alisdair won the prestigious Ricciotti Ensemble's 'Great arranging contest' (Groot Arrangeerwedstrijd 2018) where he arranged and orchestrated Jeroen Tel's theme tune to the video game ‘Overlord'. Through meeting Jeroen Tel, he was introduced to Chris Abbott and Rob Hubbard, who asked Alisdair to work with them for the 8-bit symphony, where he has been working on orchestrations of Rob's music.
This led to him being introduced to Chris Abbott and Rob Hubbard, and to becoming a vital member of the 8-Bit Symphony team.
From adding flourishes, to knowing how much trombone you need, to adding counterpoint, to fixing barlines, it's a challenging job. Luckily for us, we have Alisdair, whose contributions are invaluable to the concert's existence.
Born in Blackpool, England, Alisdair Pickering is a composer, arranger and guitarist. He began playing guitar age 9, initially playing rock music until hearing the music of Pat Metheny as a teenager which converted him to jazz. During these years he studied under Pre-eminent gingerstyle guitarist Martin Taylor MBE. Through his association with Martin, he was introduced to renowned American arranger Dr Richard Niles (Paul McCartney, Pet Shop Boys, Pat Metheny, Bob Mintzer) and subsequently studied composition and arranging with Richard for 2 years.
In 2015 Alisdair left his native U.K and relocated to Amsterdam to study at The Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He is now in his 4th year of a Bachelors degree studying arranging and composition with Jurre Haanstra and Johan Plomp, and orchestration with Theo Verbey.
Alisdair has worked with the Metropole Orkest Academy under the tutelage of grammy award winning chief conductor Jules Buckley. Alisdair had his first orchestral work performed here ,an arrangement of material provided by special guest of the Metropole Henrik Schwarz.
Since entering the Conservatorium he has also worked along side, and had his big band arrangements performed by Rick Margitza, Seamus Blake, and David Linx. Each artist subsequently included Alisdair's arrangement in their own repertoire.
In 2018 Alisdair spent a week working with The United Soloists Symphony Orchestra in Lugano, Switzerland. His arrangements of composition by fellow CvA student, Enea Besana, were subsequently performed and broadcast on Swiss National TV and Radio.
Alisdair has also worked extensively with award winning London based film director Ryan J. Smith both composing and producing soundtracks for his movies. They have recently completed a co-directed documentary on the Amsterdam jazz scene, due to be released in early 2019.
For the last 3 years Alisdair has also been guitarist/arranger/composer with The Amsterdam Funk Orchestra, an 18 piece funk, afrobeat and jazz fusion big band. They are led by world renowned saxophonist Efraim Trujillo. They have performed extensively across The Netherlands including many jazz festivals, a TedX talk at TU Deflt, and appearances on Dutch prime time TV shows to audiences of over 2.5 million viewers. They also released their first CD recently titled ‘Pure Fiction' which was financed by a successful crowdfunding project, raising over €6000.
In April 2018 Alisdair won the prestigious Ricciotti Ensemble's 'Great arranging contest' (Groot Arrangeerwedstrijd 2018) where he arranged and orchestrated Jeroen Tel's theme tune to the video game ‘Overlord'. Through meeting Jeroen Tel, he was introduced to Chris Abbott and Rob Hubbard, who asked Alisdair to work with them for the 8-bit symphony, where he has been working on orchestrations of Rob's music.
This led to him being introduced to Chris Abbott and Rob Hubbard, and to becoming a vital member of the 8-Bit Symphony team.