Charlotte Bray

British composer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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]

Biography

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]

Selected works

Orchestra or large ensemble

Chamber

  • Renga Miniatures (2007), flute, clarinet, horn, piano, violin, cello
  • Trail of Light (2008), flute and viola/cello
  • Three Rhapsodies (2009), clarinet quintet
  • Throw Back (2009), saxophone quartet
  • Midnight Interludes (2010), clarinet and cello
  • Invisible Cities (2011), viola and piano
  • Replay (2011), piano, violin, viola, cello
  • The Sun Was Chasing Venus (2012), string quintet
  • Secret (2012), flute duet
  • The Barred Owl (2013), piano duet
  • Circling Point (2014), alto saxophone and piano
  • Those Secret Eyes (2014), piano trio
  • That Crazed Smile (2014, piano trio
  • Here Everything Shines (2015), flute and guitar
  • Perseus (2015), cello and piano

Solo

  • On the Other Shore (2014), cello
  • Beyond (2013), violin
  • Oneiroi (2013), piano
  • Suya Dalmak (2013), cello and tape
  • Off the Rails (2006), piano
  • All at Sea (2012), piano
  • Chapter One (2012), piano
  • Passing Shadows (2012), guitar
  • Late Snow (2009), oboe
  • Elegy for George (2006), viola

Vocal

  • Midnight Closes (2010), soprano, piano, clarinet, cello
  • Verre de Venise (2010), tenor, piano, string quartet
  • Sonnets and Love Songs (2011), baritone, piano
  • Yellow Leaves (2012), soprano, piano
  • Fire Burning in Snow (2013) mezzo-soprano, oboe/English horn, B-flat clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, cello
  • Crossing Faultlines (2021)[37]

Opera and stage

  • The Fox and the Crow (2011), soprano, baritone, harp, cello
  • Making Arrangements (2012), soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, flute, English horn, harp, violin, cello, double bass
  • Out of the Ruins (2014), youth chorus, mezzo-soprano, orchestra
  • Entanglement (2015), soprano, tenor, baritone, flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, percussion, violin, cello, double bass
  • American Mother (2025), soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, bass, chorus, orchestra

Choral

  • Walking with my Iguana (2007), choir and piano
  • On the Green (2013), two-part choir and piano
  • John, Tom, and James (2013), two-part choir and piano
  • Come Away (2014), a cappella SATB choir
  • Agnus Dei (2014), a cappella SSATTB choir

References

External links

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