Jamie Brown (b.1980) is a current pupil of Judith Weir in London. He studied composition with Dr George Nicholson at the University of Sheffield - gaining BMus and MPhil qualifications there and winning the Philip John Lord Prize for Composition in 2002 - and has recently also had tutorials with Cecilia McDowall.

While still at school he was commissioned to write the incidental music for a production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale and this association with drama and the theatre has continued throughout his career. Other dramatic works include a children’s musical, a short theatre-piece for soprano, actor and ensemble, and most recently his first opera, Dearly Beheaded. This work, scored for baritone, six female voices, actors and small chamber orchestra, was commissioned by Professor Jane Davidson of Music Theatre Now! and premièred in Sheffield in 2004. The opera tracks the turbulent love life of King Henry VIII and his six queens, with a libretto by John Greening.

Jamie has also completed a large number of works for soloists, chamber ensembles and choirs, and is currently working on his first full orchestral piece. His inspiration comes from an extraordinarily wide variety of sources, but one discernible thread running through his work is an understanding and appreciation of history and the storytelling tradition. Song cycles charting the burial of Tutankhamun (from the Book of the Dead: the texts in the funeral chamber) and a minor expedition by Captain Scott to acquire an Emperor Penguin egg on his way to the Antarctic in 1912 (The Winter Journey) stand alongside a choral work taking an ancient Icelandic magical spell as its genesis. As Artistic Director of the Sheffield Summer Music Festival in 2004, he commissioned a thirteen-movement piece following the fascinating story told in the Bayeux Tapestry from local composers writing one movement each (and contributed one himself).

Contact: zebedeeb@hotmail.com ; 07976 891074

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