Intermusica represents four composers who also have performing careers to complement their composing activities

Please scroll down to read a brief introduction to each Composer, or for more detail visit their individual pages listed on the left-hand side of the screen.

Acknowledged as one of the foremost composers of our time, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies CBE has over 200 published works in every medium and is regularly performed around the world. With a vast and appreciative public, he is known internationally for his ability to communicate with audiences across many different styles and genres. A resident of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland, he received a knighthood in 1987 and was appointed Master of the Queen's Music in 2004.

Also active as a conductor, Maxwell Davies has held Associate Conductor/Composer positions with both the BBC Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras and currently holds the post of Composer Laureate of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He has appeared with some of the worlds' leading orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Russian National Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

The 2006/7 season sees the world premiere of Maxwell Davies’ 9th and 10th Naxos Quartets at the Wigmore Hall, as well as performances of his music by orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Atlanta Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Utah Symphony, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, Stavanger Symphony, Royal Danish Ballet, Wiener Kammeroper and many others.

The Viennese maverick HK Gruber is a multi-faceted artist with an active career as Conductor and Chansonnier alongside his composing.  He will be Composer-in-Residence at the 2006 Lucerne Festival where he conducts the Vienna Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and Ensemble Modern.  He will also conduct the BBC Symphony and BBC Singers at the 2006 Proms.

Gruber has recently conducted orchestras such as the Malmo Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and was Artist-in-Residence at the Essen Philharmonie.

Gruber is passionate about the music of Kurt Weill and often performs programmes of Weill and Eisler in the combined role of chansonnier and conductor.  He conducts all-contemporary programmes, including the music of fellow-Viennese composers Friedrich Cerha and Kurt Schwertsik, and Americans John Adams and Michael Torke, as well as mixed programmes including works by Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Bernstein, Korngold, Antheil, Hindemith, Milhaud, Bartók, Brahms, Berg and others.
 

One of today's most important British composers, James MacMillan is also internationally active as a conductor and holds the position of Composer-Conductor for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. He has future commissions for the London Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra and Takács Quartet.

MacMillan conducts regularly at the BBC Proms, and future conducting engagements include with the Munich Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Netherlands Chamber, Madrid RTVE Orchestra, Pomeriggi Musicali Milano and Melbourne Symphony.

He conducts a wide range of contemporary repertoire, and his Resonances Composer-Portraits in Manchester have included Birtwistle, Lindberg, and in the future Brett Dean, Unsuk Chin and Steven Mackey.  He conducts some standard repertoire including British composers such as Britten and Elgar, and Russians such as Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Schnittke, Ustvolskaya and Gubaidulina.
 
 
Brett Dean was violist in the Berlin Philharmonic for 15 years before returning to his native Australia in 2000 to focus on composing.  Dean has forthcoming commissions from the BBC Proms, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Opera Australia, Cologne Philharmonie and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. The Berlin Philharmonic recently commissioned and premiered Komarov's Fall in March 2006 under Sir Simon Rattle.

Dean's key new work is his Viola Concerto which he premiered as soloist with the BBC Symphony and Hamburg Philharmonic, and has future performances planned with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Netherlands Philharmonic and Sydney Symphony. He performs other viola concerti including works by Mozart, Kancheli and Hindemith.

As a conductor Dean is also enjoying increasing success.  He mostly conducts his own music and other contemporary works, such as a recent programme of new music with the Melbourne Symphony in May 2006.  Future conducting engagements include the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra (a return visit), Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella series, BBC Philharmonic and the SWR Stuttgart (Attacca series).

For further information, contact Catherine Gibbs, tel: +44 20 7239 0157