Simon Bainbridge (30 August 1952 – 2 April 2021) was a British composer. He was also a professor and head of composition at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

, London, and visiting professor at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

, in the United States.

Biography

Bainbridge was born in London. He had his first major break with ''Spirogyra'', written in 1970 while he was still a student. This work displays a passion for intricate and sensuous textures that remained the hallmark of Bainbridge's style. He was educated at Highgate School and the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

. After graduating from the Royal College of Music, he studied with Gunther Schuller at

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the ...

; his fondness for American culture was occasionally portrayed in works such as ''Concerto in Moto Perpetuo'' (1983), which contains echoes of American minimalism, and the be-bop inspired ''For Miles'' (1994). In the 1990s, his work took on a new expressive dimension such as in ''Ad Ora Incerta'' (1994) which earned him the Grawemeyer Award in 1997. Bainbridge was head of composition at the

from 1999 to 2007, and was one of the first four professors to be appointed in 2000 with the Academy's status as a constituent college of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degre ...

Bainbridge died on 2 April 2021, aged 68, after four years of pain following unsuccessful back surgery. Bainbridge was married to the English soprano and vocal coach Lynda Richardson, and father to the actress Rebecca Bainbridge. His ashes are interred on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

with the ashes of his brother Martyn Bainbridge, a stage set designer.

Career highlights

* 1969–1974 – Studied at

, London, then at Tanglewood with Gunther Schuller * 1976–1978 – Forman Fellow in Composition at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

* 1983–1985 – Composer-in-residence at Southern Arts * 1997 –

Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for ''Ad Ora Incerta'' * 2001 – Appointed head of composition at the

* 2002 – Fiftieth birthday events in Cheltenham, Huddersfield and London

Key works

* ''String Quartet no.1'' (1972) * ''Viola Concerto'' (1976) * ''Fantasia for Double Orchestra'' (1984) * ''Clarinet Quintet'' (1993) * ''For Miles'' for trumpet and chamber ensemble (1994) * ''Ad Ora Incerta'', Four Orchestral Songs from Primo Levi for mezzo-soprano, bassoon and orchestra (1994); poems by

Primo Levi Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was an Italian chemist, partisan, writer, and Jewish Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works ...

* ''Four Primo Levi Settings'' for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, viola and piano (1996); poems by

* ''Guitar Concerto'' for guitar and chamber ensemble (1998) * ''Chant'' for amplified chorus and large ensemble (1999) * ''Voiles'' for bassoon and string ensemble (2001)

Selected recordings

* ''Ad Ora Incerta; Four Primo Levi Settings'' – NMC D059 * ''Herbsttag'' – USK 1224CD

References

External links

Simon Bainbridge homepage at Wise Music ClassicalSimon Bainbridge page at UYMP
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bainbridge, Simon 1952 births 2021 deaths 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers English classical composers People educated at Highgate School Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Musicians from London Alumni of the Royal College of Music Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music University of Louisville faculty English male classical composers 20th-century English composers String quartet composers 21st-century English composers 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians Burials at Highgate Cemetery