Karen Gourlay

Member

Composer/Lyricist:

Composer

Biography

Karen Gourlay studied jazz and popular music at Leeds College of Music. Later, she studied music, specialising in composition, at the University of Leeds (BA with first class honours, 2002; MMus Composition with distinction, 2004).

Inspired by a wide range of sources, her music often incorporates references to jazz and other popular music idioms. She has an interest in writing for unusual or rare instruments and recently completed a two year commission with funding from Youth Music, writing an ensemble scheme for the so called 'endangered species' group of instruments.

In 2004 she was a finalist in the Rarescale composition competition, promoting new music for the quarter-tone alto flute. Her orchestral piece The Giggleswick Cat, inspired by a simple line drawing by Elgar was the winning entry in the 2005 Yorkshire Composers' Competition.

Important Works		Performances
The Giggleswick Cat (2005), for orchestra Bassline Plus Ensemble Scheme (2004-6), for ob, bsn, vla, db, hn, trb, tba. Dreamscape (2004), for quarter-tone alto flute and guitar Invocation (2004) for mezzo soprano and orchestra The Only Lonely One (2003) for quarter-tone alto flute		04/08/2007: Dreamscape: rarescale (Carla Rees and David Black), San Francisco. 20/02/2007: Inspired: York Minster Chimes. 04/02/2006: The Giggleswick Cat: Sinfonia of Leeds, Leeds. 19/03/2005: Invocation: Ashley Booth and West Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra, Leeds.