Gráinne Mulvey (born 10 March 1966) is an Irish composer.

Biography

Mulvey was born in

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

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, Ireland, and studied with

Eric Sweeney Eric Sweeney may refer to: * Eric Sweeney (composer) (1948–2020) * Eric Sweeney (footballer) (1903–1968) {{dab ...

at Waterford Regional Technical College,

Hormoz Farhat Hormoz Farhat ( fa, هرمز فرهت; 9 August 1928 – 16 August 2021) was a Persian-American composer and ethnomusicologist who spent much of his career in Dublin, Ireland. An emeritus professor of music, he was a fellow of Trinity College, ...

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

and Agustín Fernández at

Queen's University, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. In 1999 she gained a DPhil in Composition at the University of York under the supervision of

Nicola LeFanu Nicola Frances LeFanu (born 28 April 1947) is a British composer, academic, lecturer and director. Life Nicola LeFanu was born in Wickham Bishops, Essex, England, to William LeFanu and Elizabeth Maconchy (also a composer, later Dame Elizabeth ...

. She currently holds the position of Professor of Composition at

Technological University Dublin Technological University Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Teicneolaíochta Bhaile Átha Cliath) or TU Dublin is Ireland's first technological university, established on 1 January 2019, and with a history stretching back to 1887 through the amalgamated Du ...

(formerly Dublin Institute of Technology) Conservatory of Music and Drama. In April 2010, she was elected to membership of

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association of artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers with support from the country's Arts Council. Membership, which is by invitation from current member ...

, the State-recognised affiliation of creative artists in Ireland. A CD ''Akanos & Other Works'', dedicated to her recent work, was released in February 2014 on the Navona label.

Style

Gráinne Mulvey's music is timbrally and rhythmically complex—a legacy of her work in the electroacoustic field. Her microtonally-inflected language derives ultimately from the natural harmonic series, placing her somewhat in the spectral tradition. As she herself has written: ''My music is increasingly concerned with a sense of place – with the natural world and mankind’s relationship with that world.'' ''I don’t look for the easy way out – I enjoy solving musical problems and relish a challenge.'' bid A restless turbulence characterises much of her work, exploiting extremes of register, intricate polyrhythms and timbral exploration (including frequent use of "extended" techniques). Resolution, when eventually reached, is hard-won.

Career highlights

1994: Winner, Composers' Class of the RTÉ Musician of the Future Competition with ''Rational Option Insanity'' for oboe, clarinet, horn, violin and piano. 1994: ''Étude No 1'' for piano chosen to represent Ireland at the International Rostrum of Young Composers 1997: Awarded the Adjudicator's Prize at the Arklow Music Festival for ''Relentless'' for violin and piano 1998: Awarded the Macaulay Fellowship by the Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon 1999: Winner, New Music for Sligo (Irish Section) with ''Maelstrom'' for string quartet. 1999: ''Sextet Uno'' and ''Rational Optional Insanity'' released on CD by Black Box Music 2001: Appointed Lecturer in Composition at Dublin Institute of Technology Conservatory of Music and Drama. Adjudicator, Composition section, Feis Ceol, Dublin 2003: Winner, St John Memorial University Composers' Competition with ''Latitude 50'' for chamber orchestra. 2003: Appointed Head of Composition at DIT. Co-adjudicator, Markievicz Medal for Composition. Composer-in-residence, Mercy Convent, Waterford 2004: Jury member, Guido d'Arezzo International Composition Competition. 2004: Guest composer, Maynooth Composers' Summer School 2006: ''Scorched Earth'' chosen to represent Ireland at the ISCM International Rostrum of Composers 2007: Featured composer at RTÉ ''Horizons'' series - ''Scorched Earth'', ''Akanos'' and ''Horizons Fanfare'' performed by Robert Houlihan and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, National Concert Hall, Dublin 2008: ''Akanos'' included on CD ''Contemporary Music from Ireland, Vol. 7'
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2008: ''Akanos'' selected for ISCM World Music Days 2008 in Vilnius - performed by the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra cond. Robertas Šervenika
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2009: ''Akanos'' performed by the Filharmonie Hradec Králové, cond. Andreas S. Weiser as part of 2009 ''Prague Premières'' festival
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2009: ''Stabat Mater'' selected for 2009 ISCM World Music Days, Swede
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2010: Jury member, Guido d'Arezzo International Composition Competition 2011: Jury member, Guido d'Arezzo International Composition Competition 2012: ''Steel-grey splinters'' for solo piano, commissioned and performed by Matthew Schellhorn.

Bibliography

*Benjamin Dwyer: "An Interview with Gráinne Mulvey", in: B. Dwyer: ''Different Voices. Irish Music and Music in Ireland'' (Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 2014), p. 208–222.

References

External links

Official websiteProfileISCM World Music Days 2008"Akanos & other works"

"Contemporary Music from Ireland, Vol. 7"

sanctuaryclassics.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulvey, Grainne 1966 births 21st-century classical composers 21st-century women composers Alumni of the University of York Alumni of Waterford Institute of Technology Aosdána members Irish classical composers Irish women classical composers Living people People from Dún Laoghaire