- Andrew McBirnie
Andrew McBirnie (born 1971,
Portsmouth ) is a British composer, music educator and administrator.He studied at the
University of Bristol withAdrian Beaumont and at theRoyal Academy of Music withJustin Connolly , gaining a PhD in Composition from theUniversity of London in 1997. He also studied atTanglewood in 1995 withHenri Dutilleux , and at the Dartington Summer School in 1998 withPeter Sculthorpe . From 1997 he taught music in independent schools in the UK, and was Director of Music atThe Oratory School from 1999 to 2002. In December 2002 he took up the position of Chief Examiner in Music forLondon College of Music Examinations atThames Valley University . In August 2008 he relocated toOklahoma City , USA, to pursue a freelance career as a composer, conductor, teacher, examiner and consultant.As a composer, McBirnie has worked in the fields of opera, orchestral, instrumental, choral, vocal and educational music. His music has been widely performed in the
UK and overseas, by ensembles and artists including theLondon Sinfonietta , theBBC Philharmonic , the BBC Singers, Onyx Brass, Harlequin, and Rarescale. It has been broadcast several times onBBC radio and television.Works include:
*"Gower Beach" for orchestra (a finalist in the composition section of the 1994BBC Young Musician of the Year )
*"Herr Berg's Snowstorm" for orchestra (performed by theRoyal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra underElgar Howarth in 1995, and subsequently by theBBC Philharmonic under Martyn Brabbins at theBBC Manchester Composers' Platform in 1997, both performances later being broadcast onBBC Radio 3 )
*"Ritornel" for septet (originally commissioned by the Bennelong Ensemble and performed at thePurcell Room inLondon in 2001, later a prizewinner in the 2005Salvatore Martirano award at the University of Illinois)
*"Sonatina for Brass" for brass quintet (which has been recorded by Onyx Brass on the Intim Musik label, catalogue no. IMCD058)
*"The Moon by Night" for alto flute and piano (which has received many performances by Carla Rees and the ensemble Rarescale, and is published by Rarescale Edition)
*"Prayer" for solo oboe, which was written for the Continuum Ensemble at the instigation of Philip Headlam andKenneth Hesketh , and was performed by Julian West inLondon andCambridge in 2006, in the presence ofHenri Dutilleux .An early work for clarinet, cello and piano, "Trio I", is published by
Breitkopf & Härtel .External links
* [http://www.andrewmcbirnie.com Andrew McBirnie] – contains biography, list of works, and sample downloads
* [http://www.composer.co.uk/composers/mcbirnie.html Page at British Music Now website]
* [http://www.intim-musik.se/CD/058.html Trisagion: Onyx Brass CD] - includes "Sonatina for Brass" by Andrew McBirnie
* [http://www.paulayres.co.uk/cd/passacaglia.html Passacaglia CD] - includes "Variation for Joanne Johnson" by Andrew McBirnie
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