Nicholas Brown The Divine Image for unaccompanied choir (SATB) duration: 3 minutes Born in 1974 near Liverpool, Nicholas Brown graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford University with a First Class Honours degree in Music in 1996. He later studied composition with Ned Rorem in New York City (1996-8) before returning to England to study for his doctorate at Oxford. Nicholas has a particular interest in music that incorporates a theatrical element, whether in works for voice, choir, opera or music for film. Much of his concert music contains elements of theatre: The House of the Hanged Man (1998), for example, recreates a rehearsal of the music of deceased French composers and Henry and Johann (2001) simulates an imaginary meeting between Bach and Purcell. Nicholas Brown has featured in festivals on both sides of the Atlantic, including the 2000 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the 2001 BBC Promenade Concerts and a festival of British Art in New York called 'UK-in-NY', sponsored by the British Council. Other performances of his work have been given in a variety of venues from the Barbican Centre, London and the National Gallery of Art, Washington to concert halls in Tokyo and the Bahamas. Large scale works include the opera Heart of a Dog (1998), which was fully-staged in Manhattan in 1998, and two scores designed to be played live with classic silent films: Lady Windermere's Fan (2000) - released by the British Film Institute along with the 1916 film in April 2001 (BFIV083) - and After Death - due for DVD release in 2002. Recent chamber performances include the London Premiere of The Lily-White Rose (2000) at the BBC Proms by The Orlando Consort and Two pieces concerning Time, written as part of the PRS Adopt-a-Composer scheme for The Phoenix Singers of Shrewsbury, England. Nicholas has also collaborated with a variety of talented young colleagues, including Martin Rummel (dreamscape for cello and piano), saxophonist, Sarah Field and completed short film scores for young directors including The Truck (2001). The choir of Magdalen College, Oxford has regularly performed work by Nicholas Brown, both at home and abroad, and made recordings of his liturgical music, in addition to commissioning new work, such as the recent carol, Mirabile Misterium (2001). More information is available at http://www.nicholasbrown.co.uk Back to shortlist.