David Bruce - Composer

David Bruce is a British-American composer, living and working in
St. Albans, UK. This site contains information on his music.

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Biography

David 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 Dawn Upshaw, who will give three performances of Piosenki in the autumn, with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra, and in Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall with Ensemble ACJW. Upshaw recently commissioned Bruce's one-act opera A Bird in Your Ear for her students on the Graduate Vocal Program at Bard College NY, which was successfully premiered there in March 08. Other supporters of Bruce's work include Osvaldo Golijov, who nominated him for the Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize which Bruce was awarded in 2008; as well as clarinettist Todd Palmer and the St Lawrence String Quartet who will perform a new commission from Carnegie Hall (also in Zankel Hall) on 23 Oct 08.

Other current commissions include Presteigne Festival in Wales for a piece for flute and harp, Lake District Summer Music for a new string quartet; an accordion concerto for Michael Ward-Bergeman and the Metropolis Ensemble; a solo harp piece for Bridget Kibbey's Carnegie Hall recital debut (Apr 09); and a development commission from the Royal Opera House's ROH2 for a new chamber opera.

Piosenki, described as "masterful" by Albany Times Union, was commissioned by Carnegie Hall for the Dawn Upshaw/Osvaldo Golijov 2006/7 Professional Training Workshops and following the premiere in Weill Hall in Apr 07, it was immediately programmed by Ensemble ACJW for further performances later in the year, including a repeat performance at Weill Hall.

Bruce's chamber opera Push! was commissioned by the Genesis Foundation and premiered by Tête à Tête in London and on tour in the UK in 2006. Push! was critics choice for 2006 in both The Telegraph and Classical Music Magazine and received universal critical acclaim.

Previous commissions include the 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, New Music Players and others.

As well as the Lili Boulanger Memorial Award (2008), 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 British 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.