Derek Bourgeois
| Derek David Bourgeois | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 October 1941 Kingston upon Thames, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Cambridge University, Royal College of Music |
| Occupation | Music composer |
| Spouse(s) | Jean Bourgeois (1965 – 27 November 2006 (her death)) Norma Bourgeois (10 October 2008 – present) |
| Website | www |
Derek David Bourgeois (born 16 October 1941) is an English composer.
Career
Derek Bourgeois was born in Kingston upon Thames in 1941. After receiving his education from Magdalene College, Cambridge University[1] (honours degree and doctorate), Bourgeois spent two years at the Royal College of Music studying composition with Herbert Howells and conducting[2] with Sir Adrian Boult.[3]
From 1971 to 1984, Bourgeois was a lecturer in music at Bristol University, and director of the National Youth Orchestra[2] from 1984 to 1993.[4] In 1980 he began conducting at the Sun Life Band[5] where he was introduced to brass bands.[6] In 1994 Bourgeois was appointed Director of Music at St Paul's Girls School, London. After retiring from this post in 2002 he settled in Majorca where he lived along with his wife. After the death of his wife in 2006 he moved to New York in 2008 but eventually returned to United Kingdom in 2009.[3] He has also conducted for various orchestras. His symphonies include Jabbervocky-Extravaganza (1963) and the symphonic fantasy The Astronauts (1969).[7] For his Symphony of Winds, the First International Conference for Conductors, Publishers and Composers awarded him with their main commission in 1981.[8] He has also chaired Composer's Guild of Great Britain and served as the artistic director of Bristol Philharmonic Orchestra. He founded the National Youth Chamber Orchestra of Great Britain in 1988. He has also been the member of the Music Advisory Panel of the Arts Council.[5]
Bourgeois is well known for his compositions for brass band and wind band including two Concerti for Brass Band, the Concerto Grosso, Blitz, Diversions, Serenade, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and Apocalypse. He had also played tuba. Reviewing Bourgeois' Sonata for Trombone, David Vinning of Trombone.org wrote "Bourgeois is a skilled composer who knows how to write for the trombone and this piece is a major new work sure to become popular."[9] Bourgeois is recognised as a reputable figure and a well-established music composer.[10] His first band work was a concerto, adapted from a flute concerto.[11] One of his symphonies is 155 minutes long. In 2002 Bourgeois wrote a 77-minute symphony with the intention of honouring the town of Arta.[3]
Bourgeois' first symphony which he had composed at the age of 18 was reviewed by Stanley Sadie for The Guardian. He has also composed music for the television movie The Crucible, the short documentaries Thirty Million Letters and The Driving Force and the TV series The Barchester Chronicles and Buddyboy.[12] In 2015 he was recognised as one of Britain's most prolific composers, with 102 symphonies to his name.[3] In an interview with Alan Rusbridger of The Guardian, he said that the symphonies came "tumbling out."[3]
Personal life
His first wife, the violinist Jean Bourgeois, died of motor neuron disease on 27 November 2006. She had played for National Welsh Orchestra and was also a piano teacher.[13] Derek Bourgeois currently lives in Wool, Dorset, with his second wife, Norma Bourgeois.[3]
References
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External links
- Use British English from July 2014
- Use dmy dates from July 2014
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1941 births
- Living people
- 20th-century classical composers
- Brass band composers
- English classical composers
- People educated at Cranleigh School
- Alumni of the Royal College of Music
- Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge
- People from Kingston upon Thames
- English opera composers
- Musicians from London
- 21st-century classical composers
- Academics of the University of Bristol
- English television composers
- English male composers
- 20th-century English musicians
- 21st-century English musicians
- English conductors (music)
- 20th-century conductors (music)
- 21st-century conductors (music)
- English male classical composers
