Tributes paid to award-winning blind Cambridge composer

Asteryth Sloane was a talented musician

A talented young Cambridge composer considered a child prodigy has died at the age of 26. In Asteryth Sloane was named as the Cambridge Young Composer of the Year by Cambridge Youth Music in 2016.

Asteryth, who was blind from the age of two, changed music into Braille so it didn’t stop them pursuing their passion. Their five-minute composition Passiflora, which took eight hours to change from Braille music into musical notation, won the prestigious award in 2016.

Asteryth studied at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM). They completed both a Bachelor of Music in composition, graduating with a First, and then studied a Master’s degree in composition and musicology, graduating with a distinction.

Their website described them as a “therapist, composer, writer, book-nibbler, collector of words, lover of stories and wild spaces”.

The RNCM has since paid tribute to Asteryth. A college spokesperson said: “Their unique compositional methods and creativity led to a number of accolades, including winning the Cambridge Young Composer of the Year Competition in 2016, the senior category of the BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers’ Competition in 2018 for their piece Elegy for Aylan, and a commission from the Royal Philharmonic Society to mark Classic FM’s 25th birthday celebrations.

“Performed by ensembles including VOCES8, Paraorchestra, and the BBC Singers, Asteryth’s music is known for its responses to the beauty and fragility of the living Earth, as well as themes of identity and spirituality. Their musicological work explores the power of listening to bring us into more intimate and ethical relationships with sound, as well as the rights of sound and sound sources.”

A spokesperson for the Royal Philharmonic Society said: “We are sorry to learn that the composer Asteryth Sloane has died. We were proud to commission Asteryth to mark Classic FM’s 25th birthday celebrations in 2017, and we have since enjoyed hearing their imaginative music performed by ensembles such as the BBC Singers, Paraorchestra, VOCES8 and CoMA.

“A blind composer with a unique compositional method and verve, we pay tribute to Asteryth’s creativity, and urge music-lovers to continue listening to and performing Asteryth’s music, ensuring it continues to resound.”

More recently, Asteryth trained as a therapist.