“all the important Bs: Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Britten, plus another: Charlotte Bray”
The Times
“Bray’s rapid rise is due to an unusual combination of remarkable fluency, an absolutely sure ear and an ability to fix an emotional tone in a few sharply outlined gestures”
(Ivan Hewett, The Proms 2021)
British composer Charlotte Bray is one of the most esteemed and in-demand composers of her generation. Exhibiting uninhibited ambition and desire to communicate, her music is exhilarating, inherently vivid, and richly expressive with lyrical intensity. Recent premieres include The Sun and Her Flowers (2023), commissioned by The Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium; A Dark Doorway (2023), premiered by the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin conducted by Robin Ticciati; The Flight of Bitter Water (2022), conducted by Marin Alsop and performed by Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien; and Where Icebergs Dance Away (2021), commissioned by WDR Sinfonieorchester (Cristian Măcelaru), receiving its’ UK premiere with the BBC SO (Sakari Oramo) at the BBC Proms.
Further commissions include Mriya (2023) for violin and piano, commissioned by Wigmore Hall for Leila Josefowicz; Bray’s first full scale opera American Mother, commissioned by Theatre Hagen (2025), libretto by Colum McCann; A Sky Too Small for Orchestre de Paris under Klaus Mäkelä, co-commissioned by Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (2024); and a new work for Ensemble Intercontemporain (2025). L’Orchestre de Chambre de Genève named Bray as composer-in-residence 2023-2026 and will perform several of her works over the 3 years.
Originally from High Wycombe, Bray (b.1982) graduated from Birmingham Conservatoire with First Class Honours, having studied composition with Joe Cutler, and then completed a Masters in Composition with Distinction from the Royal College of Music in London studying with Mark-Anthony Turnage. She went on to participate in the Britten-Pears Contemporary Composition Course and studied at Tanglewood Music Centre. Her music is published by Birdsong. She lives in Berlin.