PROFILE
Welcome. You might have arrived here from MySpace or the Living Composer's Project site looking to find out more information about my music-making activities. So here is some brief background on my studies, teaching and creative life.
I initially trained at Dartington College of Arts, for two years in the mid 80s, on the Preparatory Course in Music. This time in Totnes was profoundly influential on my musical thinking; coming into contact with Hindustani classical music (Amarnath Mishra), the shakahachi playing of Yoshikazu Iwamoto, The Cardew Scratch Orchestra (Parker, Rowe, de Saram, Tippett), the music of Jim Fulkerson & Frank Denyer, jazz fusion gigs with John Etheridge, student improv concerts and composition workshops, fellow students... the best education I ever had. All my main musical concerns were inherited from Dartington - the musician I wanted to be, the music I am STILL interested in 25 years on. What DCA gives its students is unique, the environment, the attitude - all one of a kind.
My music mainly centres around acoustic instruments, but often a tape part or live electronics are used to enhance the mobile sound. There is also a strong theatrical and metaphorical element to my later pieces (for example 'My Name Is John Mackay') that is at odds with traditional music making; questioning the values and intent of a compositional work or 'musical' gesture.
My PhD was completed in 1999 (from Edinburgh University - studyng with Nigel Osborne) and since then I have received commissions and performances from numerous ensembles and players both nationally and internationally. My music has been played in Argentina, Spain, Colombia, Greece, France and the UK.
I'm currently teaching Composition & Academic Music at The City of Edinburgh Music School.
Please feel free to contact me at my email:
irvinejk [at] btinternet [dot] com
LIST OF WORKS (selected)
2010: 'In Passing...' (work in progress) (Cello & Piano)
2008: 'Five Very Short Pieces' (Clarinet & Piano)
2008: 'A Hollow Place' (Piano Duet)
2006: 'Five Short Pieces' (Solo Piano)
2004: 'King Bee' (Percussion & Tape)
2003: 'My Name Is John Mackay' (Organ, Percussion & Tape)
2002: 'Journey To Horaizan' (Percussion & Tape)
2001: 'You, Astronaut' (Clarinet, Percussion & Tape)
2001: 'Contact-Cuttings' (Piano & Tape)
1999: 'Strange Language' (Clarinet, Piano & Percussion)
1998: 'Unbroken Network of Lines' (Sop, Ensemble,Tape, Live Electronics, & Mixed Media)
1998: 'Preservation & Loss' (Percussion Quartet)
1995-97: 'Chemicals & Waves' (Large Orchestra)
1992-97: 'Songbook' (Soprano & Classical Guitar)
This site was last updated on 14/06/10