David Bruce - Composer
David Bruce - Composer |
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 David Bruce is a British-American composer, living and working in
St. Albans, UK. This site contains information on his music.
"Masterful" Albany Times Union "Close to operatic genius" Metro "Dazzling" Opera Now "rich...lucidly orchestrated...skillfully written and imaginative". New York Times "Sometimes skittish, sometimes mournful, always deeply felt" Evening Standard 5 recent 'passions' Other recent posts Most popular 'passions' posts Most popular blog posts
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BiographyDavid Bruce is developing a growing international reputation as a composer, particularly in the field of opera and vocal music. His work has attracted the attention of some of the world's leading musicians, including soprano Dawn Upshaw, clarinettist Todd Palmer and the St Lawrence String Quartet.Upshaw in particular has played an important role in bringing Bruce's music to the attention of a wider audience, instigating the commission for his opera 'A Bird in Your Ear', and performing his song-cycle Piosenki at Carnegie Hall and elsewhere. Upshaw will also be the soloist in a new song-cycle with ensemble, commissioned for the Gala opening of the 2009 season by the Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center. Other recent commissions include Gumboots, commissioned by Carnegie Hall for clarinettist Todd Palmer and the St Lawrence String Quartet; Groanbox for New York's Metropolis Ensemble featuring his friends the Groanbox Boys; and Caja de Musica for Concert Artists Guild Winner Bridget Kibbey's Carnegie Hall recital debut. Bruce's work in opera has attracted considerable attention. His one-act opera A Bird in Your Ear (2008) was commissioned by Bard College, NY and after its successful premiere has had performances as a finalist in the National Opera Association's Chamber Opera competition 2008; with students at NYU; and by New York City Opera as part of the 2009 VOX festival. The New York Times hailed A Bird in Your Ear as "by far the best...rich...lucidly orchestrated...skillfully written and imaginative". Bruce's earlier chamber opera Push! was also highly successful. Commissioned by the Genesis Foundation and premiered by Tête à Tête in London and on tour in the UK in 2006, Push! was Critic's Choice for 2006 in both The Telegraph and Classical Music Magazine and received universal critical acclaim. Other previous commissions include an acclaimed series of mini-operas - Out of the Ordinary, for The Opera Group, Has it Happened Yet? (2002) for ENO Studios and Tête à Tête; Seven Tons of Dung for Tête à Tête (1999); incidental music to the Trestle Theatre Company's show The Smallest Person (2004); and instrumental pieces for the London Sinfonietta, BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Presteigne Festival and the Lake District Summer Music Festival. Bruce was awarded the prestigious Lili Boulanger Memorial Award in 2008, after a nomination by Osvalso Golijov (a previous nomination in 1998 came from Sir Harrison Birtwistle); other prizes include the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Competition in 1994, the Adam Prize (Kings College) and the Herberts Howellls Prize (RCM). David Bruce was born in Connecticut, USA to English & Welsh parents (he holds both UK and US citizenships). He began his undergraduate studies in music in 1988 at Nottingham University (composition tutors included Jim Fulkerson and Nicholas Sackman), before moving on to the Royal College of Music (1991-3) where he obtained a Masters Degree in Composition, studying with Tim Salter and George Benjamin; and a PhD in Composition at King's College, London (1995-9), under the supervision of Sir Harrison Birtwistle. Complementing his work as a composer, Bruce runs the music and technology company Red Balloon Technology Ltd whose sites include the popular sheet music site 8notes.com, the melody search engine Tunespotting.com and the composers' site CompositionToday. | |||||||||
