Brett Dean

Brett Dean is an internationally recognised composer, conductor and viola performer

His music is championed by many of the leading conductors and orchestras worldwide, including Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, Andris Nelsons, and Marin Alsop.

Brett was born and studied in Australia before moving to Germany. He was a member of the Berlin Philharmonic for fourteen years, during which time he began composing.

Much of his work draws from literary, political, environmental or visual stimuli, including a number of compositions inspired by artwork by his wife, Heather Betts. Brett began composing in 1988, gaining international recognition through works such as his clarinet concerto Ariel's Music (1995), which won a UNESCO Composers award, and Carlo (1997), inspired by the music of Carlo Gesualdo.

In 2009 he won the Grawemeyer Award for violin concerto The Lost Art of Letter Writing, and in June 2017 his second opera Hamlet was premiered at Glyndebourne Festival Opera to great acclaim, winning awards at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards and International Opera Awards. In 2022 he received the Ivor Novello Award for Chamber Ensemble Composition for Madame ma bonne sœur, and in 2023 he won the Ivor Novello Award for Orchestral Composition for his Cello Concerto.

Dean also appears with many of the world’s leading orchestras, ensembles and festivals as a conductor and as violist, performing his Viola Concerto and chamber music.

Brett conducts the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Lapland Chamber Orchestra, and the Riot Ensemble. He was Composer in Residence of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 2019 to 2023, and at the Wigmore Hall for the 2023/24 season.

Image: Bettina Stoess