Charlotte Bray facts for kids

Charlotte Bray (born in 1982) is a talented British composer. A composer is someone who writes music. Her music has been supported by famous groups like the Royal Opera House and the London Symphony Orchestra. Many well-known conductors, such as Sir Mark Elder and Oliver Knussen, have performed her pieces.

About Charlotte Bray: Her Life and Music

Charlotte Bray was born in Oxford in 1982 and grew up in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. She loved music from a young age. She studied the cello and how to write music (composition) at Birmingham Conservatoire. She did so well that she graduated with top honors!

After that, she continued her studies at the Royal College of Music. She also took part in special courses where she learned from famous composers like Oliver Knussen. In 2008, she even studied at the Tanglewood Music Centre in the United States.

Charlotte has received many awards for her music. In 2010, she won the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize. This led to her writing a piece called Replay for a music festival. She also won the Lili Boulanger Prize in 2014, which is a big honor for composers.

Early Career and Big Performances

Charlotte became an "apprentice Composer-in-Residence" with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) in 2009. This meant she worked closely with them to create new music. During this time, her violin concerto, Caught in Treetops, was performed for the very first time by violinist Alexandra Wood and the BCMG.

Her orchestral work, Beyond a Fallen Tree, was performed by the famous London Symphony Orchestra in 2010. An orchestra is a large group of musicians playing different instruments together. She also wrote a song cycle called Verre de Venise, which is a collection of songs meant to be performed together. This piece was commissioned (meaning, asked for and paid for) by big music festivals like Aldeburgh and Aix-en-Provence.

In 2011, the London Philharmonic Orchestra asked Charlotte to write a piece called Scenes from Wonderland. This piece featured a talented violinist named Jennifer Pike. Charlotte also became the first Composer-in-Residence for the Oxford Lieder Festival, where she wrote new songs for a baritone singer.

Major Works and Collaborations

July 2012 was an exciting time for Charlotte. Her piece, At the Speed of Stillness, was performed at the BBC Proms. The Proms is a very famous series of classical music concerts in London. Sir Mark Elder conducted the Aldeburgh World Orchestra for this performance.

In 2015, Charlotte's chamber opera Entanglement was performed for the first time. An opera is a play where the words are sung, usually with an orchestra. She worked with a writer named Amy Rosenthal on the story for this opera. Also in 2015, her piece Out of the Ruins was commissioned by the Royal Opera House Covent Garden for their youth company. She also wrote music for the Chester Cathedral Choir and for cellist Guy Johnston.

Charlotte Bray has written music for some of the world's best musicians and groups. These include the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Dover Quartet. Her music has been played at major festivals like the BBC Proms and Aldeburgh. Many famous conductors, including Sir Mark Elder and Oliver Knussen, have led performances of her works.

In 2013, she spent time at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire, which is a special place where artists can go to focus on their creative work. She also received a fellowship to study at the Liguria Study Centre in Italy.

Charlotte Bray's Music: A Selection of Her Works

Charlotte Bray has written many different types of musical pieces. Here are some examples of her work, grouped by the instruments or voices they are written for:

Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble

These are pieces written for a big group of musicians, like a symphony orchestra.

• A Dark Doorway (2024)
• Stone Dancer for orchestra (2016)
• Falling in the Fire for solo cello and orchestra (2015)
• Fanfare for Birmingham (2014) for 8 players
• Black Rainbow for orchestra (2013)
• At the Speed of Stillness for orchestra (2012)
• Scenes from Wonderland for solo violin & orchestra (2011)
• Caught in Treetops for solo violin & large ensemble (2010)

Chamber Works

Chamber music is written for a smaller group of instruments, usually one player per part.

• Renga Miniatures (2007) for flute, clarinet, horn, piano, violin, cello
• Trail of Light (2008) for flute and viola/cello
• Three Rhapsodies (2009) for clarinet quintet (5 clarinets)
• Throw Back (2009) for saxophone quartet (4 saxophones)
• Midnight Interludes (2010) for clarinet and cello
• Invisible Cities (2011) for viola and piano
• Replay (2011) for piano, violin, viola, cello
• The Sun Was Chasing Venus (2012) for string quintet (5 string instruments)
• Secret (2012) for flute duet (2 flutes)
• The Barred Owl (2013) for piano duet (2 pianos)
• Circling Point for alto saxophone & piano (2014)
• Those Secret Eyes and That Crazed Smile (2014) for piano trio (piano, violin, cello)
• Here Everything Shines (2015) for flute and guitar
• Perseus (2015) for cello and piano

Solo Works

These pieces are written for just one instrument.

• on the Other Shore (2014) for cello
• Beyond (2013) for violin
• Oneiroi (2013) for piano
• Suya Dalmak (2013) for cello and tape (meaning, with a pre-recorded sound)
• Off the Rails & All at Sea (2005/12) for piano
• Chapter One (2012) for piano
• Passing Shadows (2012) for guitar
• Late Snow (2009) for oboe
• Elegy for George (2005-6) for viola

Vocal Works

These pieces are written for singers, sometimes with instruments.

• Midnight Closes (2010) for soprano (a high female voice), piano, clarinet, and cello
• Verre de Venise (2010) for tenor (a high male voice), piano, and string quartet
• Sonnets and Love Songs (2011) for baritone (a medium male voice) and piano
• Yellow Leaves (2012) for soprano and piano
• Fire Burning in Snow (2013) for mezzo-soprano (a medium female voice), oboe/cor anglais, B-flat clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, and cello
• Crossing Fault lines (2021, song cycle)

Operatic and Stage Works

These are pieces written for the stage, like operas or plays with music.

• The Fox and the Crow (2011) for soprano, baritone, harp, and cello
• Making Arrangements (2012) for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, flute, cor anglais, harp, violin, cello, and double bass
• Out of the Ruins (2014) for youth chorus, mezzo-soprano, and orchestra
• Entanglement (2015) for soprano, tenor, baritone, flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, percussion, violin, cello, and double bass

Choral Works

These pieces are written for a choir (a group of singers).

• Walking with my Iguana (2007) for choir and piano accompaniment
• On the Green (2013) for two-part choir and piano accompaniment
• John, Tom, and James (2013) for two-part choir and piano accompaniment
• Come Away (2014) for a cappella SATB choir (meaning, sung without instruments)
• Agnus Dei (2014) for a cappella SSATTB choir