Fergus Johnston (born 21 May 1959) is an Irish composer and member 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 ...

Life and career

Johnston was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, the son of the physicist and political activist Roy H. W. Johnston, and studied for both a degree in music and a master's degree in Music and Media Technology at

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 ...

(MusB 1982). He also has a PhD in composition from the

National University of Ireland, Maynooth The National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann Mhá Nuad), commonly known as Maynooth University (MU), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. It w ...

. Initially he had also studied at the

Royal Irish Academy of Music The Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) in Dublin, Ireland, is one of Europe's oldest music conservatoires, specialising in classical music and the Irish harp. It is located in a Georgian building on Westland Row in Dublin. An institution which ...

, Dublin (flute with

Doris Keogh Doris Keogh (16 April 1922 – 10 August 2012) was an Irish flautist and flute teacher. Biography Doris Keogh, née Cleary, was born in Dublin to Victor-Louis Cleary and Mary Elizabeth Hughes. Her father was a professional flute player based in ...

, clarinet with Tim Hanafin, and composition with

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada *James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Quebe ...

). In 1985 he was invited by the European Community Youth Orchestra to write an orchestral piece under the guidance of

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

. 1989-91 he was Chairman of the Association of Irish Composers. He completed his education with the English composer Robert Hanson. Johnston's output includes works for both orchestra and smaller ensembles, some works of which include electronics, and two operas. His music has been performed at many venues and festivals including the 1985 Asolo Musica Festival in Italy, the 1996

International Society for Contemporary Music The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following the ...

Festival, the 2001 Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music in Belfast, and

Raidió Teilifís Éireann Raidi (; ; also written Ragdi; born August, 1938) is a Tibetan politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2008, and the highest ranking Tibeta ...

's 2005 Living Music Festival. His use of system is unusual among Irish composers, his compositional process typically including a significant element of pre-planning.

Selected works

Stage * ''Bitter Fruit'' (

Nell McCafferty Nell McCafferty (born 28 March 1944) is an Irish journalist, playwright, civil rights campaigner and feminist. She has written for ''The Irish Press'', ''The Irish Times'', '' Sunday Tribune'', ''Hot Press'' and ''The Village Voice''. Early l ...

) (1992), chamber opera * ''The Earl of Kildare'' (

Celia de Fréine Celia de Fréine (born 1948) is a poet, playwright, screenwriter and librettist who writes in Irish and English. Background Celia de Fréine was born in Newtownards, County Down. At an early age she moved with her family to Dublin, maint ...

) (2008), operaSee CMC feature: https://www.cmc.ie/features/earl-kildare-fergus-johnston Orchestral works * ''Samsara'' (1991) * Flute Concerto (1996; rev. 2003) * ''Je goûte le jeu ...'' (1997), for string orchestra * ''Wind Symphony'' (1998), for wind band * ''Through Hollow Lands'' (2002) * ''Binn an tSíorsholais'' (2004) * ''Wexford Suite'' (2005) * ''Brahms Begins the Day'' (2006) * ''Scenes and Interludes from 'The Earl of Kildare (2008) Chamber music * ''Timon of Athens'' (

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

), incidental music (1983), 2fl, 2cl+bcl, bn, vn, gui, perc, 3 speakers * ''Reflections'' (1984), ob, 2cl, bn, hp, vib, str qt * ''Brass Quintet'' (1985) * ''Episodes 1'' (1986), fl, trb, egui, perc * ''Episodes 2'' (1987), fl, ob, cl * ''Signals!'' (1989), vn, dancers (opt.) * ''Incantations'' (1989), cl+bcl, perc * ''Cusp'' (1992), vn, pf *''Kaleidophone'' (1992; rev. 1996), 2vn, va, vc, hp, perc * ''Gabor Haenjo’s Variations on a Theme by Paganini'' (1993), cl, vc, pf * ''Carn'' (1993), 2pf * ''Líofa'' (1994), fl, cor ang, bcl, hn, str qt * ''Opus Lepidipterae'' (1996), fl, pf/arec, gui/fl, hpd * Piano Trio (2012) * ''Toccata, Fugue, and A Camel's Swan-Song'' (2013), vc, pf * String Quartet (2015), vn, va, vc, db Solo instrumental * Three Pieces for Double Bass (1980) * ''Pavan and Galliard'' (1984), guitar * Two Pieces for Solo Flute (1987) * Prelude & Passacaglia (1987), violin * ''Psyche'' (1992), alto recorder * ''creepy crawlies'' (1993), piano * Prelude (1993), piano * Three Piano Pieces (1995) * ''Éagaoineadh'' (1995), piano * ''The Oul’ Winda Rag'' (1996), piano * ''Rashad's Words'' (1999), percussion * ''Lord Leonard Gray, His March'' (2006), piano * ''Three Bulgarian Dances'' (2007), organ * ''Miniatures for Scott'' (2015), piano Vocal * ''Two T’ang Poems'' ( Li Ho) (1984), soprano and chamber orchestra * ''The Wisdom of the World'' (1990), mezzo and Irish harp * ''After a Childhood Away from Ireland'' (

Eavan Boland Eavan Aisling Boland (24 September 1944 – 27 April 2020) was an Irish poet, author, and professor. She was a professor at Stanford University, where she had taught from 1996. Her work deals with the Irish national identity, and the role of w ...

) (1997), soprano and piano * ''Five Oriental Texts'' (2015), soprano and chamber orchestra Choral * ''Three Songs on Words by e.e.cummings'' (1981; rev. 1982), S, fl, cl, bn * ''now I lay (with everywhere around)'' (

e.e. cummings Edward Estlin Cummings, who was also known as E. E. Cummings, e. e. cummings and e e cummings (October 14, 1894 - September 3, 1962), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobi ...

) (1983), satb * ''Praise Music (Psalms)'' (1988), satb * ''Sine musica nulla vita'' (1988), ssatb * ''The Little Snowgirl'' (1991), A, B, children's vv, female vv, orch * Psalm 84 (1996; rev. 1997), satb & organ Electro-acoustic * ''Morríghan'' (2000), baroque fl, hpd, live electronics * ''Méadú'' (2001), vn, pf, tape * ''Árd Fhearta'' (2001), 2ob, 2fl, 2cl, 2bn, 2tpt, 2trb, tb, bronze-age hn, live electronics

Recordings

*''Samsara'', performed by Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra, Tsanko Delibosov (cond), on: Vienna Modern Masters VMM 3035 (CD, 1996). *''Kaleidophone'', performed by Concorde, on: Contemporary Music Centre CD02 (promotional CD, 1997). *''Je goûte le jeu ...'', performed by Irish Chamber Orchestra, Fionnuala Hunt (cond), on: Black Box Music BBM 1013 (CD, 1998). *''Árd Fhearta''; ''Carn''; ''Signals''; ''Samsara'', performed by Reamonn Keary (pf), Shirin Goudarze-Tobin & Frantisek Jaros (vn), Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra, Tsanko Delibosov (cond), on: Monumental Music MOMU 014 (CD, 2001). *''Three Bulgarian Pieces'', performed by Vox 21, on: RTÉ lyric fm CD 123 (CD, 2009). *Piano Trio, performed by Fidelio Trio, on: Metier MSV 28556 (CD, 2015).

Honours and awards

*1989 – Macaulay Fellowship, Arts Council of Ireland *1992 – Elected to

, Ireland's Academy of Arts. *1996-2001 - Appointed as member of the Board of Directors of the National Concert Hall of Ireland, An Ceoláras Náisiúnta.

References

Sources

Arts Council of Ireland reference pageFergus Johnston at the Contemporary Music Centre of Ireland
*Axel Klein: ''Die Musik Irlands im 20. Jahrhundert'' (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1996) *''The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland'', ed. H. White & B. Boydell (Dublin: UCD Press, 2013)

External links

Fergus Johnston's websiteScores by Fergus JohnstonArts Council of Ireland reference pageFergus Johnston at the Contemporary Music Centre of Ireland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Fergus 1959 births 20th-century Irish classical composers 20th-century Irish male musicians 21st-century Irish classical composers 21st-century Irish male musicians Aosdána members Electroacoustic music composers Irish male classical composers Irish opera composers Living people Male opera composers Modernist composers Musicians from Dublin (city)