Brian Irvine (composer) facts for kids

Brian Irvine (born 2 January 1965) is a talented composer from Northern Ireland. He is known for mixing many different music styles in his work. These styles include jazz, rock, rap, tango, and classical music. Brian Irvine was the Associate Composer with the Ulster Orchestra from 2007 to 2011. He also taught as a Professor of Creative Arts at the University of Ulster.

Brian Irvine's Music Career

Brian Irvine was born in Belfast. He has created many different types of music. This includes operas, music for orchestras, and pieces for films and dance shows. He also writes music for smaller groups and solo performers.

Working with Others

Brian Irvine is a co-artistic director of Dumbworld. This is a production company he started in 2009 with filmmaker John McIlduff. He was 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. This is a special honor for an artist. In December of that year, he won the Paul Hamlyn Composers Award. For several years, he was also an Associate Professor of Creative Arts at the University of Ulster.

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

He often works with artists from other fields. These include the famous poet Seamus Heaney and filmmaker John McIlduff. He has also collaborated with pianists, animators, and other musicians.

Brian Irvine has toured a lot in the USA and Europe with his own music group. They have performed at many international music festivals.

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

Operas and Orchestra Music

From 2014 to 2015, Brian Irvine created five short operas called Things We Throw Away. These were performed in 40 different places in 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. The show took place at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin.

One of his orchestral works was a collaboration with poet Seamus Heaney. It was called Praise Aloud the Trees and was for two orchestras and a choir. BBC Radio 3 asked him to create this piece.

Another large work for orchestra and violin is A Mon Seul Desir. Violinist Darragh Morgan and the RTE National Symphony Orchestra performed it. This was part of a special series at the National Concert Hall in Dublin.

In 2019, his one-act opera, Least Like The Other, premiered in Galway. This opera tells the story of Rosemary Kennedy. The Irish Times newspaper gave the opera a five-star review.

Awards and Special Honors

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

He has also won the BBC Radio 3 Jazz Award and the MCPS Joyce Dixey Award. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland gave him a Major Individual Artist Award. In 2011, he won the Irish Allianz Arts and Business Award. This was for his community opera Shelter me from the Rain, which showed the best use of creativity in the community.

In 2012, Brian Irvine and his Dumbworld partner were chosen as Northern Ireland's lead artists for the London 2012 Cultural Olympics. They created NEST. This was a huge sound sculpture made from 3000 objects donated by people across Northern Ireland. It also featured a symphony orchestra and a 300-person community choir.

Brian Irvine 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 in 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.

Students of Brian Irvine

Some of Brian Irvine's students include other composers and musicians. These are Ed Bennett, Dave Kane, Steve Davis, and Brian Robinson.