Stuart MacRae (born 12 August 1976) is a Scottish
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
.
Education and career
Stuart MacRae was born in
Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
,
Scotland. He studied at
Durham University
, mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1)
, established = (university status)
, type = Public
, academic_staff = 1,830 (2020)
, administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19)
, chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen
, vice_chan ...
with Philip Cashian and Michael Zev Gordon, and subsequently with
Simon Bainbridge and
Robert Saxton at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama. By his mid-twenties he was writing astonishingly original and powerfully expressive works, and was receiving commissions from organisations such as the BBC and the
London Sinfonietta as well as being appointed Composer-in-Association with the
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Often inspired by aspects of nature and humans' relationship to it, MacRae's style draws on various strands of European
modernism, including the music of
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
,
Elliott Carter,
Iannis Xenakis,
Harrison Birtwistle and
Peter Maxwell Davies.
Key works
* ''The Witch's Kiss'' (1997; chamber ensemble)
* ''Violin Concerto'' (2001)
* ''Ancrene Wisse'' (2002; choir, orchestra)
* ''Motus'' (2003; chamber ensemble)
* ''Echo and Narcissus'' (2006; chamber ensemble/dance)
* ''Birches'' (2007; chamber orchestra)
* ''Gaudete'' (2008; soprano and orchestra)
* ''Earth'' (2010; orchestra)
* ''Prometheus Symphony'' (2019; soprano and bass-baritone soloists and orchestra)
Prometheus Symphony
/ref>
Operas
* ''The Assassin Tree'' (2006; chamber opera)
* ''Remembrance Day'' (2009; chamber opera)
* '' Ghost Patrol'' (2011; chamber opera)
* ''The Devil Inside'' (2016)
* ''Anthropocene'' (2019)
Awards
* 2013 South Bank Sky Arts Award for Opera for '' Ghost Patrol''.
Career highlights
* 1993-7 – studies at Durham University, then Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
* 1996 – finalist in Lloyd's Bank Young Composers' workshop.
* 1997 – premiere of ''The Witch’s Kiss'' with BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Peter Maxwell Davies.
* 1999–2003 – Composer-in-Association of BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
* 2001 – MacRae portrait concert conducted by James MacMillan at Edinburgh International Festival.
* 2001 – ''Violin Concerto'' premiered at BBC Proms.
* 2006 – ''The Assassin Tree'', MacRae's first opera premiered at Edinburgh International Festival.
* 2008 – ''Gaudete'' premiered at BBC Proms.
* 2012 – '' Ghost Patrol'' premiered by Scottish Opera and Music Theatre Wales.
Selected recordings
''The City Inside''
– Black Box BBM1058
''Piano Sonata''
– Delphian DCD 34009
''Tol-Pedn''
– Kairos 0012442KAI
''Interact''
– London Sinfonietta SINF CD1-2006
''Violin Concerto, Two Scenes from the Death of Count Ugolino, Motus, Stirling Choruses''
– NMC D115
References
External links
Stuart MacRae's website
Stuart MacRae's homepage at Novello & Co.
Scottish classical composers
Alumni of the College of St Hild and St Bede, Durham
Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
1976 births
Living people
British male classical composers
20th-century classical composers
20th-century British composers
21st-century British composers
21st-century classical composers
21st-century British musicians
20th-century British male musicians
21st-century British male musicians
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