Cole Butler

Songwriting & Production

Composition

‘read after i’m gone’
Cole Butler, 2025

Duo for violin and cello

read after i'm gone is a meditation on absence, distance, and the fragile thread of intention through time. Cast in two movements, the piece explores a nostalgic hauntology through sonic archeology of feelings unspoken and moments unresolved...

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‘prismatic inertia’
Cole Butler, 2025

Solo piano

prismatic inertia is the second piece in my collection of music and poetry titled chroma. Its notation makes use of an innovative graphic style to indicate distortions of tempo and suck musical materials into cyclical patterns, as if the music were orbiting a black hole...

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‘summer snow’
Cole Butler, 2025

Clarinet in B♭, violin, cello, fixed-materials

summer snow is based on a poem my mum wrote for me before I left for university. Its central image - the white petals of hydrangea flowers falling like snow each summer in our garden - blends the antonymic warmth and light of Summer with the stillness and dissolution of Winter.

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‘across the border’
Cole Butler, 2024

Solo piano

across the border is an exploration of the liminal, the space where physical and spiritual worlds meet. It evokes a kind of musical "thin space" where the ordinary and monotonous pigeonholes of life are punctuated by moments of reverie. The piece unfolds like a day: patterned and familiar but always shifting...

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Cole Butler

info@cole-butler.com
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Cole Butler is a British composer, songwriter, producer, and interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the textures of memory, loss, and longing through a distinctively hauntological lens. Taking an archaeological approach to sound, his music seeks to reconstruct the lost artefacts of sepia-toned photographs, corrupted digital files, and unsent letters - sonic fragments that resonate with nostalgic, saudade, and bittersweet melancholia.

Cole’s compositional voice draws from experimental, classical, and ambient traditions, while his work as a songwriter and producer reaches into more popular idioms - both united by a deeply personal, autographic conceptual and emotional style. Whether writing for a classical concert or producing an immersive track, Cole crafts intimate microcosms where memory and emotion become sound.

A First Class Honours graduate of Durham University, Cole was awarded the Michael James Scholarship for outstanding performance in preliminary honours and the Rosalind Dickinson Prize for outstanding performance in final honours. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Music Composition at the University of Oxford, studying under Professor Jennifer Walshe.

As a multi-instrumentalist - performing on piano, saxophone, trumpet, guitar, and vocals - Cole brings a versatile, hands-on approach to every project, shaping his sonic landscapes with personality.

Looking ahead, Cole is preparing to launch a record label dedicated to cutting-edge music across both popular and contemporary art music spheres. This vision will debut with the release of his forthcoming album. In parallel, Cole continues to compose and perform new art music, bridging the worlds of innovation and emotion across genres and mediums.

Education

MSt in Music (Composition)
University of Oxford
2025-26 (in progress)

BA in Music with First Class Honours, with the Michael James Scholarship and The Rosalind Dickinson Prize
Durham University
2022-25

A levels: A* Biology, A* History, A* Mathematics, A* Music
Westcliff High School for Boys
2020-2022

GCSEs: 10x Grade 9; 2x Grade 8
Westcliff High School for Boys
2015-2020

Awards

The Rosalind Dickinson Prize - awarded to the outstanding candidate in final honours.
Durham University
2025

EDI Prize Commendation - awarded for an excellent essay submission to the prize.
Durham University
2025

Penarth Chamber Music Festival Call for Scores
Winner
2025

Michael James Scholarship - awarded to the outstanding candidate in preliminary honours.
Durham University
2023

Performances

Upcoming:
-

Past:

‘read after i’m gone’
Penarth Chamber Music Festival
19.06.25

Employment

Purple Radio
Head of Live Sessions
2024-25

Last Updated 05.07.25

Coming soon...