Background
Stuart MacRae was born in Inverness, Scotland.
Stuart MacRae was born in Inverness, Scotland.
He studied at Durham University with Philip Cashian and Michael Zev Gordon, and subsequently with Simon Bainbridge and Robert Saxton at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
By his mid-twenties he was writing astonishingly original and powerfully expressive works, and was receiving commissions from organisations such as the British Broadcasting Corporation and the London Sinfonietta as well as being appointed Composer-in-Association with the British Broadcasting Corporation Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Often inspired by aspects of nature and humans" relationship to it, MacRae"s style draws on various strands of European modernism, including the music of Igor Stravinsky, Elliott Carter, Iannis Xenakis, Harrison Birtwistle and Peter Maxwell Davies. 1993-1997 - studies at Durham University, then Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
1996 - finalist in Lloyd’s Bank Young Composers’ workshop.
1997 - premiere of The Witch’s Kiss with British Broadcasting Corporation Philharmonic Orchestra and Peter Maxwell Davies. 1999-2003 - Composer-in-Association of British Broadcasting Corporation Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
2001 - MacRae portrait concert conducted by James MacMillan at Edinburgh International Festival. 2001 - Violin Concerto premiered at British Broadcasting Corporation Proms.
2006 - The Assassin Tree, MacRae"s first opera premiered at Edinburgh International Festival.
2008 - Gaudete premiered at British Broadcasting Corporation Proms. 2012 - Ghost Patrol premiered by Scottish Opera and Music Theatre Wales.