Charlotte Bray (born 1982) is a British composer. Her work has been performed by

The Royal Opera The Royal Opera is a British opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Along with English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent G ...

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber music, chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert ...

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) is a British chamber ensemble based in Birmingham, England specialising in the performance of Contemporary classical music, new and contemporary music. BCMG performs regularly at the CBSO Centre and Symph ...

, and

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The ...

Biography

Charlotte Bray was born in 1982 and raised in

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

. She studied

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

at the

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly research and docto ...

, graduating with

First Class Honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

having studied with Andrew Downes and Joe Cutler. She then completed a

Master of Music The Master of Music (MM or MMus) is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually performance in singing or i ...

with Distinction in composition at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

, where she studied with

Mark-Anthony Turnage Mark-Anthony Turnage (born 10 June 1960) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Life and career Mark-Anthony Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex on 10 June 1960. Turnage was the eldest of three children. His parents were lov ...

. She participated in the Britten–Pears Contemporary Composition Course in 2007 with

Oliver Knussen Stuart Oliver Knussen (12 June 1952 – 8 July 2018) was a British composer of contemporary classical music and conductor. Among the most influential British composers of his generation, his relatively few compositions are "rooted in 20th-cen ...

Colin Matthews Colin Matthews, OBE (born 13 February 1946) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Noted for his large-scale orchestral compositions, Matthews is also a prolific arranger of other composer's music, including works by Berlioz, ...

, and

Magnus Lindberg Magnus Gustaf Adolf Lindberg (born 27 June 1958) is a Finnish composer and pianist. He was the New York Philharmonic's composer-in-residence from 2009 to 2012 and the London Philharmonic Orchestra's composer-in-residence from 2014 to 2017. Ear ...

and studied at

Tanglewood Music Center The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglew ...

in 2008. 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. She was awarded the

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

Composition Prize in 2010, resulting in a

piano quartet A piano quartet is a chamber music composition for piano and three other instruments, or a musical ensemble comprising such instruments. Those other instruments are usually a string trio consisting of a violin, viola and cello. Piano quartets for ...

commission for

Cheltenham Music Festival The Cheltenham Music Festival is a British music festival, held annually in Cheltenham in the summer months (June, July) since 1945. The festival is renowned for premieres of contemporary music, hosting over 250 music premieres as of July 2004. ...

for which she wrote ''Replay''. She was also winner of the 2014 Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Prize. Bray was appointed

Sound and Music Sound and Music is the UK's national charitable agency for new music, established on 1 October 2008 from the merger of four existing bodies working in the contemporary music field: the Society for the Promotion of New Music (SPNM), the British Mu ...

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

. Her orchestral work ''Beyond a Fallen Tree'' (a UBS Soundscapes: Pioneers commission)was performed by the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

under

Daniel Harding Daniel John Harding (born 31 August 1975) is a British conductor and airplane pilot. Biography Harding was born in Oxford. He studied trumpet at Chetham's School of Music and was a member of the National Youth Orchestra at age 13. At age 17, ...

on 23 May 2010. Her

song cycle A song cycle () is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combinat ...

''Verre de Venise'' (for tenor, piano, and string quartet), was co-commissioned by the

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the English county, county of Suffolk, England, north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the comp ...

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

, and

Verbier Verbier () is a village located in south-western Switzerland in the canton of Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederatio ...

Festivals in 2010. Her ''Scenes from Wonderland'' was commissioned by the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

for soloist

Jennifer Pike Jennifer Elizabeth Pike (born 9 November 1989) is a British violinist. Early years and education Pike began playing the violin at the age of five, and after auditioning at the age of eight she gained a place at Chetham's School of Music in Ma ...

and violinists from London Music Masters in 2011. As inaugural Composer-in-Residence at the

Oxford Lieder Festival The Oxford International Song Festival (formerly the Oxford Lieder Festival prior to 2023) is a UK-based classical music festival, specialising in the art-song repertoire. History The Festival was founded in 2002 by the pianist Sholto Kynoch, ...

2011, Bray composed a baritone song cycle for Roderick Williams. In July 2012, '' At the Speed of Stillness'' premiered, a

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

commission, with

Mark Elder Sir Mark Philip Elder (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. Life and career Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, the son of a dentist. He played the bassoon when in primary school, at Bryanston School, Dorset, and in the National ...

conducting the Aldeburgh World Orchestra. In the same year, ''Invisible Cities'' was commissioned by the

Verbier Festival The Verbier Festival is a two week annual international music festival which is held in late July and early August in the mountain resort of Verbier southeast of Lausanne, Switzerland. Begun by Swedish expatriate in 1994, it has attracted int ...

and performed by

Lawrence Power Lawrence Power is a British violist, born 1977, noted both for solo performances and for chamber music with the Nash Ensemble and Leopold String Trio. Career Power started out as a violist (rather than beginning studies on the violin and swi ...

and Julien Quentin; as well as ''Making Arrangements'', a

chamber opera Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a Chamber music, chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra. Early 20th-century operas of this type include Paul Hindemith's ''Cardillac'' (1926). Earlier small-scale operas ...

written for Tête à Tête Opera Festival. In 2015, Bray's chamber opera '' Entanglement'' was premiered by the Nova Music Opera. Bray collaborated with librettist

Amy Rosenthal Amy Rosenthal (born 1974) is a British playwright from Muswell Hill, London. She is a recipient of ''The Sunday Times'' Drama Award. Biography Amy Rosenthal was born in 1974, the daughter of dramatist Jack Rosenthal and actress Maureen Lipman. ...

on the story of

Ruth Ellis Ruth Ellis (; 9 October 1926 – 13 July 1955) was a Welsh-born nightclub hostess and convicted murderer who became the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom following the fatal shooting of her lover, David Blakely. In her teens, ...

, the last woman to be hanged in Britain. Also premiered in 2015 were ''Out of the Ruins'' (commissioned by the

for their youth company, mezzo-soprano, and orchestra) and ''Come Away'' for the Chester Cathedral Choir. ''Falling in the Fire'' was premiered in 2016, written for cellist Guy Johnston. Bray has written for the

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall, Birmingham in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its adminis ...

, Ensemble 360,

Britten Sinfonia Britten Sinfonia is a chamber orchestra ensemble based in Cambridge, UK. It was created in 1992, following an initiative from Eastern Arts and a number of key figures including Nicholas Cleobury, who recognised the need for an orchestra in the ...

Dover Quartet The Dover Quartet is an American string quartet. It was formed at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2008 and its members are graduates of both the Curtis Institute of Music and the Rice University Shepherd School of Music. Its name is taken from t ...

, Huw Watkins,

Samantha Crawford Samantha Crawford (born February 18, 1995) is an American tennis player. In her career, Crawford won one singles title and five doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In July 2016, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 98. On J ...

, and Mona Asuka Ott. She has also composed for the

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...

Aix-en-Provence Festival The Festival d'Aix-en-Provence is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumenta ...

, and

. Her work has been conducted by

, and Jac van Steen. She was in residence at the MacDowell program in the summer of 2013 and then at the Liguria Study Centre, having been awarded a Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship.

Selected works

Orchestra or large ensemble

* ''A Dark Doorway'' (2024) * ''Stone Dancer'' (2016), orchestra * '' Falling in the Fire'' (2015), solo cello and orchestra * ''Fanfare for Birmingham'' (2014), ensemble of 8 players * '' Black Rainbow'' (2013), orchestra * '' At the Speed of Stillness'' (2012), orchestra * ''Scenes from Wonderland'' (2011), solo violin and orchestra * '' Caught in Treetops'' (2010), solo violin and 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)

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

Official website

SoundCloud page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bray, Charlotte 1982 births British women classical composers Living people English classical composers MacDowell Colony fellows People from High Wycombe 21st-century English women musicians 21st-century British classical composers Musicians from Oxford Musicians from Buckinghamshire 21st-century British women composers Alumni of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire