Edward Gregson is a composer of international reputation, whose music has been performed, broadcast and commercially recorded across the world.
He has been described as ‘one of the most significant British composers currently active in this country’ (Robert Matthew-Walker, International Record Review, 2011).
He studied composition and piano with Alan Bush at the Royal Academy of Music, winning five prizes for composition, with later studies at London University. His commissions have included works for the English Chamber, Bournemouth, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras, with performances by many other orchestras and ensembles around the world. His discography includes recordings of his orchestral and concerto repertoire (Chandos), instrumental and chamber music (Naxos) and music for brass band (Doyen).
His major works for orchestra include Music for Chamber Orchestra (1968), Metamorphoses (1979), Concerto for Orchestra (1983, rev. 2002), and Dream Song (2010), with many concertos written for eminent soloists, whilst his choral music includes Make a Joyful Noise (1988), a large-scale cantata The Dance, forever the Dance (1999), and Three John Donne Settings (2013). His instrumental and chamber music includes two string quartets and numerous works for solo instruments, including a Piano Sonata in one movement (1983), Tributes and Aztec Dances (both 2010),
His contribution to the wind and brass repertoire has also been of particular significance and in 2016 he was composer-in-association with the Black Dyke Band. In the following year he was composer-in-residence at the Presteigne Festival, with numerous performances of his music. In 2019 he won an Ivor’s Academy Composer Award for his Hallé commission for children’s choir and orchestra, The Salamander and the Moonraker.
His academic career has included appointments at Goldsmiths College, University of London (1976-1996), where he was awarded a Personal Chair and Principal of the Royal Northern College of Music (1996-2008). He has been a member of many international juries, has worked for BBC radio and television, and is currently a Writer Director of PRS for Music. He has also been the recipient of a dozen honorary Doctorates and Fellowships from various English universities and conservatoires, including Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music (1990).
Photo by Simon McComb