Andrew McBirnie

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Andrew McBirnie (born 1971, Portsmouth) is a British composer and music educator.

He studied at the University of Bristol with Adrian Beaumont and at the Royal Academy of Music with Justin Connolly, gaining a PhD in Composition from the University of London in 1997. He also studied at Tanglewood in 1995 with Henri Dutilleux, and at the Dartington Summer School in 1998 with Peter Sculthorpe. From 1997 he taught music in independent schools in the UK, and was Director of Music at The Oratory School from 1999 to 2002. In December 2002 he took up the position of Chief Examiner in Music for London College of Music Examinations at Thames Valley University.

As a composer, McBirnie has worked in the fields of opera, orchestral, instrumental, choral, vocal and educational music. His music has been widely performed in the UK and overseas, by ensembles and artists including the London Sinfonietta, the BBC Philharmonic, the BBC Singers, Onyx Brass, Harlequin, and Rarescale. It has been broadcast several times on BBC radio and television.

Works include:

Gower Beach for orchestra (a finalist in the composition section of the 1994 BBC Young Musician of the Year)
Herr Berg's Snowstorm for orchestra (performed by the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra under Elgar Howarth in 1995, and subsequently by the BBC Philharmonic under Martyn Brabbins at the BBC Manchester Composers' Platform in 1997, both performances later being broadcast on BBC Radio 3)
Ritornel for septet (originally commissioned by the Bennelong Ensemble and performed at the Purcell Room in London in 2001, later a prizewinner in the 2005 Salvatore Martirano award at the University of Illinois)
Sonatina for Brass for brass quintet (which has been recorded by Onyx Brass on the Intim Musik label, catalogue no. IMCD058)
The Moon by Night for alto flute and piano (which has received many performances by Carla Rees and the ensemble Rarescale, and is published by Rarescale Edition)
Prayer for solo oboe, which was written for the Continuum Ensemble at the instigation of Philip Headlam and Kenneth Hesketh, and was performed by Julian West in London and Cambridge in 2006, in the presence of Henri Dutilleux.