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Stephen Gardner 'The most important advice I was given as a composer was “Don’t push your granny when she’s shaving.” If only we all followed that principle.' |
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Stephen Gardner was born in Belfast. He did not take an active interest in music until he was in his early twenties. After playing in a band for two years, he began to learn classical guitar and theory. He gained entrance to the University of Ulster in 1984, where he took an interest in composition. After postgraduate studies in composition at The University of Wales, Gardner dedicated his time to composing. His first commission was 'Wanting,not wanting', for the Ulster Orchestra, in 1992 (this showed an early desire to express his response to the conflict in the North). Since then, his works have been performed worldwide. To date, he has composed ten works for orchestra. A CD of three of these works will be released by RTÉ in January 2013. A key to the development of his ensemble writing was the relationship established with Concorde, directed by Jane O' Leary, resulting in seven works. He has begun to write a series of choral works (with financial support from The Arts Council) over the past few years. A commission for bass clarinet and piano (for long-time collaborators Paul Roe and Finghin Collins) has just been completed. His next work is for the Crash Ensemble. He was elected to Aosdána, Ireland's state-sponsored academy of artists, in 2003. He currently resides in Dublin. (biography © Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland) |
| Composer web site: http://www.stephengardnercomposer.com/ |
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