Michael Berkeley (b.1948)

Berkeley uses the traditional chant melody identifiably as a basis for the choral line, and when he deviates from the plainsong, he does so with dramatic flair. Strongly dissonant lines contrast beautifully with the unison chant-based passages. Parts divide freely throughout, allowing harmonies to fill out as needed. Brief solo phrases vary the texture without exhausting singers or requiring professional guest singers. |s Jason Overall, Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians (US), Sept 2016 |a 23/02/2017 Michael Berkeley was born in 1948. He studied composition, singing, and piano at the Royal Academy of Music but it was not until his late twenties, when he went to study with Richard Rodney Bennett, that Berkeley began to concentrate exclusively on composing. In 1977 he was awarded the Guinness Prize for Composition; two years later he was appointed Associate Composer to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Since then Michael's music has been played all over the globe and by some of the world's finest musicians. Most of Michael's significant orchestral work, much of his chamber music and his operas are available on CD as part of the Chandos Berkeley Edition. For ten years from 1995 Michael was artistic director of the Cheltenham International Festival of Music. He currently presents Radio 3's Private Passions, which won the Broadcasting Press Guild's Radio Programme of the Year Award in 1996, and is Chairman of the Governors of The Royal Ballet.