Gavin Bryars studied philosophy at Sheffield University and became a professional jazz bassist and a pioneer of free improvisation working especially with Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley. In the late 1960s he worked with John Cage and this influenced early works such as the indeterminately scored The Sinking of the Titanic of 1969 and the classic Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet of 1971.
 
A major turning point in his development was his first opera Medea, premièred at the Opéra de Lyon and Opéra de Paris in 1984 (directed and designed by Robert Wilson). He has written two further operas, both with libretti by his long time collaborator Blake Morrison: Doctor Ox's Experiment (ENO 1998, directed by Atom Egoyan), and G (directed by Georges Delnon), commissioned by the Staatstheater Mainz for the Gutenberg 600th anniversary.
 
He has produced a large body of chamber music - including 3 string quartets and a saxophone quartet - both for his own ensemble and for other performers. He has also written extensively for strings as well as producing concertos for violin, viola, cello, double bass (plus one for jazz bass), saxophone and bass oboe. He has also written much choral music, chiefly for the Latvian Radio Choir, with whom he has recently recorded a second CD, and for the Estonian Male Choir.
 
He taught for a number of years in art colleges and has collaborated with many visual artists such as Bruce McLean, Tim Head, James Hugonin, Bill Woodrow and Will Alsop (Valencia Architecture Biennale). In 2006 he was a guest speaker at the 10th Alvar Aalto Architecture Symposium in Finland. He has made installations/performances for the Liverpool Tate Gallery, the Tate St. Ives, the Chateau d'Oiron, among others and worked closely with the late Juan Muñoz, notably on A Man in a Room, Gambling.
 
Bryars has worked for many years with early music performers and has embarked on a series of books of madrigals: the first for The Hilliard Ensemble (texts by Blake Morrison), the second for the Trio Mediaeval Sextet (Petrarch sonnets), and the third for Red Byrd (Petrarch, translated by Synge). A fourth has been started (longer Petrarch poems) and there are two books of Irish Madrigals. He has written a large number of "Laude", many for the soprano Anna Maria Friman, and is working on settings of old Irish texts with the singer Iarla I'Lionaird. He has also written Tróndur í Gøtu, a setting of Faroese saga poetry for the Faroese bass Rúni Brattaberg, following their work together on settings of old Icelandic saga poetry.

www.gavinbryars.com
 

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