Andrew McBirnie

Professional

Website:

www.andrewmcbirnie.com

Biography

Andrew McBirnie was born in 1971 in Portsmouth, UK. He read music at the University of Bristol (BA with first class honours, 1992) followed by postgraduate study in composition at the Royal Academy of Music (MMus 1994, PhD 1997).

Since leaving full-time education he has combined his work as a composer with a career in education and assessment. Between 1997 and 2002 he taught music in independent schools, firstly at Longridge Towers School in Northumberland and then at The Oratory School in Reading, where he was Director of Music from 1999 to 2002. In December 2002 he took up the position of Chief Examiner in Music for London College of Music Examinations at Thames Valley University, where he has also taught on the BMus course.

Former teachers include David Penri-Evans, Adrian Beaumont, Melanie Daiken and, most importantly and influentially, Justin Connolly. He also studied a Tanglewood as a Fellow in Composition, with Henri Dutilleux and George Perle; and at Dartington, with Peter Sculthorpe.

As a composer, Dr McBirnie has worked in the fields of opera, orchestral, instrumental, choral, vocal and educational music. His music has been performed widely in Britain, Europe, the US, Canada, Australia and the Asia Pacific region, by artists and ensembles including the London Sinfonietta / Martyn Brabbins, the BBC Singers / Simon Joly, the BBC Philharmonic / Martyn Brabbins, the RAM Symphony Orchestra / Elgar Howarth, the Bennelong Ensemble, Harlequin, and Onyx Brass. His music has been broadcast several times on BBC radio and television, and he was a composer finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 1993. Two pieces, Sonatina for Brass (1995) and Variation for Joanne Johnson (1997) have been recorded on CD. The Trio I for clarinet, cello and piano (1988) is published by Breitkopf & Härtel.

In March 2002, a concert featuring four of Dr McBirnie's chamber works was held at The Warehouse, London. More recently, the ensemble Rarescale has been active in promoting his work for quarter-tone alto flute and piano, The Moon by Night (2001), including performances in London, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Manchester and New York. A new piece for solo oboe, Prayer (2004/5), was premièred by Julian West at the Purcell Room, London, in April 2005, at a concert given by the Continuum Ensemble in the presence of Henri Dutilleux, followed by a second performance in Cambridge.

Ritornel (2000; rev. 2001), for septet, was awarded 'Honourable Mention' in the 2005 Salvatore Martirano Award, and was performed by the University of Illinois New Music Ensemble at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in November 2005. The Sonatina for Brass (1995) was performed by the Faculty Brass Quintet of l’Université Laval in Quebec City in November 2005, as part of the 2005 National Conference of the College Music Society. Three Motets on Scottish Metrical Psalms and Paraphrases (2006-7), for solo oboe, choir, orchestra, was premièred in Norwich in June 2007.

Important Works		Performances
Herr Berg's Snowstorm (1994), for orchestra Ritornel (2000; rev. 2001), for septet The Moon by Night (2001), for alto flute and piano Sonatina for Brass (1995), for brass quintet Prayer (2004-5), for solo oboe		Eight Vignettes, for organ, performed by Paul Ayres at St George's Church, Hanover Square, London The Moon by Night, for alto flute and piano, performed by Rarescale at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester CITY, for ensemble, performed by Avenue A, at Townley Grammar School, Bexleyheath Prevent us, O Lord, for unaccompanied SATB, performed at the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music, St Pancras Parish Church, London Three Motets on Scottish Metrical Psalms and Paraphrases, performed by the Norwich Music Group conducted by Philip Aldred, Norwich