 |
Charlotte Bray (born 1982) is a British composer. [1] Her work has been performed by The Royal Opera, [2] London Sinfonietta, [3] Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, [4] and BBC Symphony Orchestra. [5]
| |
Charlotte Bray (born 1982) is a British composer. [1] Her work has been performed by The Royal Opera, [2] London Sinfonietta, [3] Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, [4] and BBC Symphony Orchestra. [5]
Charlotte Bray was born in 1982 and raised in High Wycombe. [1] She studied cello and composition at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, graduating with First Class Honours having studied with Andrew Downes and Joe Cutler. [6] [7] She then completed a Master of Music with Distinction in composition at the Royal College of Music, where she studied with Mark-Anthony Turnage. [8] She participated in the Britten–Pears Contemporary Composition Course in 2007 with Oliver Knussen, Colin Matthews, and Magnus Lindberg and studied at Tanglewood Music Center in 2008. [8] In 2011, Bray was made an honorary member of Birmingham Conservatoire and in 2014 was named their Alumni of the Year in the field of Excellence in Sport or the Arts. [6] She was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize in 2010, [9] resulting in a piano quartet commission for Cheltenham Music Festival for which she wrote Replay. [10] She was also winner of the 2014 Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Prize. [11]
Bray was appointed Birmingham Contemporary Music Group/Sound and Music Apprentice Composer-in-Residence for 2009/10, during which time violinist Alexandra Wood and the BCMG premiered her violin concerto Caught in Treetops under conductor Oliver Knussen. [8] [12] Her orchestral work Beyond a Fallen Tree (a UBS Soundscapes: Pioneers commission)was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding on 23 May 2010. [13] Her song cycle Verre de Venise (for tenor, piano, and string quartet), was co-commissioned by the Aldeburgh, Aix-en-Provence, and Verbier Festivals in 2010. [14] Her Scenes from Wonderland was commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra for soloist Jennifer Pike and violinists from London Music Masters in 2011. [15] As inaugural Composer-in-Residence at the Oxford Lieder Festival 2011, Bray composed a baritone song cycle for Roderick Williams. [16]
In July 2012, At the Speed of Stillness premiered, a BBC Proms commission, with Mark Elder conducting the Aldeburgh World Orchestra. [17] In the same year, Invisible Cities was commissioned by the Verbier Festival and performed by Lawrence Power and Julien Quentin; [18] as well as Making Arrangements, a chamber opera written for Tête à Tête Opera Festival. [19]
In 2015, Bray's chamber opera Entanglement was premiered by the Nova Music Opera. Bray collaborated with librettist Amy Rosenthal on the story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain. [20] [21] [22] Also premiered in 2015 were Out of the Ruins (commissioned by The Royal Opera for their youth company, mezzo-soprano, and orchestra) [23] and Come Away for the Chester Cathedral Choir. [24] Falling in the Fire was premiered in 2016, written for cellist Guy Johnston. [25]
Bray has written for the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble 360, Britten Sinfonia, London Sinfonietta, Dover Quartet, [26] Jennifer Pike, Lawrence Power, Huw Watkins, [27] Samantha Crawford, [28] and Mona Asuka Ott. [29] She has also composed for the BBC Proms, Aldeburgh Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, Aix-en-Provence Festival, and Verbier Festival. [26] Her work has been conducted by Mark Elder, [30] Oliver Knussen, [6] Daniel Harding, [31] and Jac van Steen. [32]
She was in residence at the MacDowell program in the summer of 2013 [33] and then at the Liguria Study Centre, [34] having been awarded a Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship. [35]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
