contemporary classical composer

“She began composing only eight years ago, when 21 years old, but has already bagged an impressive series of commissions (Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Verbier among others) and emerged as one of the outstanding composing talents of her generation.”
(The Evening Standard’s 1000 Most Influential Londoners)

Biography

Bray studied under Joe Cutler and graduated from Birmingham Conservatoire with First Class Honours. Then, under Mark Anthony Turnage, she completed her Masters at the Royal College of Music in 2008 gaining a Distinction. She was born in Britain in 1982 and currently lives in Berlin. In 2011 she was made an Honorary Member of Birmingham Conservatoire.

For 2012, Bray looks forward to writing a substantial soprano cycle for Claire Booth and Andrew Matthews-Owen, as well as a chamber commission for Daniel Hope and Savanna Music Festival (2013). Commissioned by Verbier Festival, Invisible Cities will be premièred in July by Lawrence Power and Julien Quentin.

Oxford Lieder Festival named Bray as their first ever Composer-in-Residence in 2011, featuring several performances of her work, including a première by British baritone Roderick Williams. Cheltenham Festival saw the première of Replay, a piano quartet composed as a result of winning the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize. A highlight of the year was the performance of Scenes from Wonderland by Jennifer Pike and the LPO, a co-commission from the orchestra and London Music Masters.

Appointed apprentice Composer-in-Residence with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group/Sound and Music for 2009/10, the ensemble premièred A Match With the Moon (violin & improvised ensemble) and her violin concerto Caught in Treetops conducted by Oliver Knussen. The concerto also appeared in Aldeburgh Festival’s closing concert of 2011. Other notable performances include Beyond a Fallen Tree by the LSO under Daniel Harding (UBS Soundscapes Pioneers commission); Verre de Venise (tenor song cycle) in Aldeburgh, Aix-en-Provence, and Verbier – a co-commission from the three festivals; and her soprano song cycle Midnight Closes, which has been performed on numerous occasions including Wigmore Hall, Holywell Music Room (Oxford), Music in the Round (Sheffield), and the Purcell Room.