A YOUNG Cumbrian composer whose music has been played at the Royal Opera House in London has released his debut album.

John Wiseman, 20, from Cockermouth, is studying music composition at the University of Hertfordshire, launched An Odd Collection last month, and tracks from the record have been featured by BBC Introducing.

The multi-instrumentalist and producer has been playing classical music from an early age, more recently working with synthesizers - leading to the creation of this electronic-led album.

He says: "People are loving An Odd Collection so far; I think they appreciate the variety in the album.

"I've played a few of the tracks at gigs, and I'm aiming to play the album live as soon as I've overcome the few technical challenges that come with performing electronic music.

"I guess I like to challenge people's expectations and perceptions - I like to put bits into my music that'll make them go, "ooh I wasn't expecting that".

"For instance, on the first track on the album, Ants, there's a fairly heavy electronic beat going on, then it suddenly changes to a string quartet. For me it's about story-telling, adding drama to my music.

"With this first album, I wanted to show the variety in the music that I compose, and there are heavy riffs and there are chilled out sections."

Four years ago, John won a competition to record a 'fanfare' with conductor Antonio Pappano and composer Duncan Chapman, which saw the music performed by the Royal Opera House orchestra.

As well as creating music for local group The Moonlighters on their production of Macbeth, John's varied projects also include a new rock band at university called Personal Voyeur, with their debut album also in the works.

With his own album now complete and available on iTunes, Spotify and other streaming sites, John's next move is to work on releasing his new concept album, Not One Step Back, before finishing university.

He continues: " I think it's good to have variety in music. I've just finished recording my second album, which is yet to be released, and is a fully-fledged concept album - this carries on the theme of variety.

"As a full-time music student at the University of Hertfordshire, it's a challenge to fit in gigging around uni work, however, now I've released An Odd Collection, I'm looking for local venues to showcase the album between semesters."

John Wiseman's An Odd Collection is available to download and stream online. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/wisethemusic