Dr James MacMillan CBE (born 16 July 1959) is a Scottish classical composer and conductor.
Early life
MacMillan was born at Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, but lived in the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock until 1977.
He studied composition at the University of Edinburgh with Rita McAlister, and at Durham University with John Casken, gaining a PhD in 1987. He was a music lecturer at the University of Manchester from 1986-1988. After his studies, MacMillan returned to Scotland, composing prolifically, and becoming Associate Composer with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, often working on education projects.
Rising success
He came to the attention of the classical establishment with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra's premiere of The Confession of Isobel Gowdie at the Proms in 1990. Isobel Gowdie was one of many women executed for witchcraft in 17th century Scotland. According to the composer, "the work craves absolution and offers Isobel Gowdie the mercy and humanity that was denied her in the last days of her life".[1]
The work's international acclaim spurred more high-profile commissions, including a percussion concerto for fellow Scot Evelyn Glennie, Veni, Veni, Emmanuel. It was premiered in 1992 and has become MacMillan's most performed work. He was also asked by Mstislav Rostropovich to compose a cello concerto, which was premiered by Rostropovich himself in 1997.
His most recent successes have included his second opera The Sacrifice, commissioned by Welsh National Opera, Autumn 2007, which won a Royal Philharmonic Society Award, and the St John's Passion commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Sir Colin Davis at its world premiere in April 2008. He was awarded the British Composer Award for Liturgical Music, for his Strathclyde Motets, in December 2008.
James MacMillan worked occasionally with the folk band The Whistlebinkies, for whom he set and performed the William Soutar poem, "Tryst". MacMillan is conducting a new production of Parthenogenesis at the Royal Opera House in June 2009.
Influences
MacMillan's music is infused with the spiritual and the political. His Roman Catholic faith has inspired many of his sacred works; for example, Magnificat (1999), and several Masses. This central strand of his life and compositions was marked by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in early 2005, with an unparalleled survey of his music entitled From Darkness into Light. MacMillan and his wife are lay Dominicans, and he has collaborated with Michael Symmons Roberts, a Catholic poet, and also Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Scottish traditional music has also had a profound musical influence, and is frequently discernible in his works. When the Scottish Parliament was reconvened in 1999 after 292 years, a fanfare composed by MacMillan accompanied the Queen into the chamber. Weeks after the opening ceremony, MacMillan launched an outspoken attack on sectarianism in Scotland in a speech entitled "Scotland's Shame".[2]
MacMillan's use of (even subliminally) familiar themes has perhaps made his music more accessible. This accessibility is demonstrated by the range of his liturgical music: his Mass of 2000 was commissioned by Westminster Cathedral and contains sections which the congregation may join in [3]. Similarly, the St Anne's Mass and Galloway Mass do not require advanced musicianship, being designed to be taught to a congregation.
Appointments and collaborations
MacMillan was appointed composer and conductor with the BBC Philharmonic in 2000, and is expected to continue working with them until 2009. His collaboration with Michael Symmons Roberts is ongoing, with his second opera, The Sacrifice (based on the ancient Welsh tales of the Mabinogion), being premiered by Welsh National Opera in Autumn 2007. Sundogs, a large-scale work for a cappella choir, also using text by Symmons Roberts, was premiered by the Indiana University Contemporary Vocal Ensemble in August 2006.
He is an Honorary Fellow of Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford. He is patron of St Mary's Music School in Edinburgh, and recently also become a patron of the London Oratory School Schola Cantorum along with Simon Callow and HRH Princess Michael of Kent.
He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2004.
In 2008, he became Honorary Patron of London Chamber Orchestra's LCO New: Explore project which explores links between music and other art forms and fosters emerging creative talent in composition.
Personal life
MacMillan is married to his childhood sweetheart Lynne Frew. They have three children together: two daughters, Catherine and Clare, and a son, Aidan.
Key works
Partial Bibliography
- "In harmony with heaven" The Tablet (11 October 2008) : 12-13
References
External links
