Brian Irvine (composer) facts for kids

Brian Irvine (born January 2, 1965) is a composer from Northern Ireland. He writes many different kinds of music, often mixing styles like jazz, rock, rap, and classical music. He used to be the main composer for the Ulster Orchestra and taught creative arts at the University of Ulster.

Brian Irvine's Musical Journey

Brian Irvine was born in Belfast. He has created a wide range of music, including operas, pieces for orchestras, film music, and even art installations. He also writes music for dance, small groups, and solo performers.

Working with Others

Since 2009, Brian has been the co-director of Dumbworld, a company he started with filmmaker John McIlduff. He was also the first Associate Composer for the Ulster Orchestra from 2008 to 2012. In 2015, he became the first Music Laureate for the City of Belfast, which is a special honor for a musician. That same year, he won the Paul Hamlyn Composers Award. For several years, he was also a professor at the University of Ulster.

Brian has worked with many artists and groups from around the world. These include the Welsh National Opera, BBC Radio 3, the RTE National Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC Concert Orchestra.

He often works with artists from other fields, like poets, sculptors, and filmmakers. Some of his collaborators include the famous poet Seamus Heaney, filmmaker John McIlduff, and pianist Joanna Macgregor.

Brian has also toured a lot with his own music group, performing in the USA and Europe at many music festivals.

In 2017, he toured Ireland, Northern Ireland, London, and Scotland with a new piece called 13 Vices. He created this with composer and singer Jennifer Walshe. 13 Vices was chosen to represent the UK at the New Music Biennale in Hull and at the South Bank in London.

Operas and Orchestra Music

From 2014 to 2015, Brian created a series of five short operas called Things We Throw Away. These were performed in 40 different places on the streets of Dublin and Belfast.

He also created an animated children's musical story called Bluebottle. This was performed by 500 singing children from Wicklow and the RTE National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin.

In 2019, an opera he composed called Least Like The Other premiered in Galway. This opera was about the life of Rosemary Kennedy. It received a five-star review from Irish Times.

Awards and Special Honours

Brian Irvine has been nominated for four British Academy (ASCAP) Awards. His opera The Tailors Daughter, which he wrote for the Welsh National Opera, won an award in 2008.

He has also won the BBC Radio 3 Jazz Award and the Major Individual Artist Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. In 2011, he won the Irish Allianz Arts and Business Award for his community opera Shelter me from the Rain. This award was for using creativity to help the community.

In 2012, Brian and his Dumbworld partner were chosen as Northern Ireland's lead artists for the London 2012 Cultural Olympics. They created a huge art piece called NEST. It was a giant sculpture made from 3000 objects collected from homes across Northern Ireland. It also included a symphony orchestra and a choir of 300 people.

Brian received two Ivor Novello Award nominations at The Ivors Classical Awards 2023. His works Least Like The Other: Searching For Rosemary Kennedy and The Scorched Earth Trilogy were both nominated for Best Stage Work. Least Like The Other then won the award for Best Stage Work 2023.

He also received an Ivor Novello Award nomination at The Ivors Classical Awards 2024. His piece A Children's Guide to Anarchy (An Easterhouse Children's Manifesto) was nominated for Best Community and Participation Composition.

His Students

Some of Brian Irvine's students include Ed Bennett, Dave Kane, Steve Davis, and Brian Robinson.