Seen and Heard International, review of That which you wove of lightest thread, I wear to honour stone by Paul Conway (15 Aug 2026)
“no less affecting and directly communicative”
ArtsHub, review of Mriya by Suzannah Conway (6 July 2026)
“It was a very moving piece indeed, and brilliantly realised.”
The Guardian, review of Making Arrangements by Andrew Clements (3 May 2026)
“lean, focused score” … “tells the story stylishly”
Opernwelt, review of American Mother by Regine Müller (July 2025)
“a gripping, deeply affecting and thoroughly successful work of music theatre…. The expressive musical language of the British composer Charlotte Bray, … is immediately understandable without being obsequious. It represents something like a timeless, international modernity that doesn’t rely on superficial effects.”
Der Opernfreund, review of American Mother by Pedro Obiera (2 June 2025)
“Haunting, deeply moving… Bray’s ‘American Mother’ is a work that touches the heart with a theme that moves us all: the rejection of violence, revenge, and hatred.”
ResMusica, review of Nothing Ever Truly Ends by Jean-Pierre Robert (8 January 2025)
“Finely orchestrated, [Nothing Ever Truly Ends] sustains the tension of listening… superbly realised by Pierre Bleuse and the Ensemble intercontemporain.”
GBOPERA, review of A Sky Too Small by Jocelyne De Nicola (13 July 2024)
“An interesting, richly imaginative and highly musical work.”
O-Ton, review of A Lost Place by Pedro Obiera (26 June 2023)
“A finely chiselled, sensitive composition, brought to life with exquisite delicacy.”
The Times, review of Ungrievable Lives by Richard Morrison (22 October 2022)
“One thinks of the string quartet as the ultimate “abstract music” medium, but there’s nothing abstract about the 13 miniature movements Bray has composed. The first evokes a giant accelerating machine, suggesting multitudes caught up in inhumane processes. At its centre are 13 savage, knife-thrust chords. After that comes a succession of bleak musical pictures, some evoking faintly remembered melodies from distant homelands, others just ghostly whispers on string harmonics suggesting loss and absence. That each movement is over before its material has a chance to develop also suggests the terrible tragedy of children not just with their past lives obliterated but also with their futures blighted.”
Ivan Hewett, The Proms (2021)
“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”
The Times, review of Where Icebergs Dance Away by Richard Morrison (August 2021)
“miniature intricacy… suitably frozen, but Bray cleverly transforms this icy material and you do get the illusion of light dancing on glacial surfaces.”
The Independent, review of cello concerto Falling in the Fire by Steph Power (16 August 2016)
“defiantly exquisite as well as stark.… Surging with energy”
Gramophone, review of NMC portrait CD by Richard Whitehouse (January 2015)
“a composer of genuine substance from whom each new piece is to be keenly anticipated”
The Sunday Times, review of NMC portrait CD (19 October 2014)
“a sharp ear and a vigorous imagination. …the music’s inventiveness and textural control are unmistakable. ”
London Evening Standard, “London’s 1000 Most Influential People 2011: Classical” (7 November 2011)
“She began composing only eight years ago, when 21 years old, but has already bagged an impressive series of commissions (Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Verbier among others) and emerged as one of the outstanding composing talents of her generation.”
The Guardian, review of Sonnets and Love Songs by Andrew Clements (30 October 2011)
“It’s beautifully judged. ”
Musical Pointers, review of Still Standing (from Yellow Leaves) by Caroline McGee (16 October 2011)
“We eagerly await more!”
The Times (4 July 2011)
“all the important Bs: Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Britten, plus another: Charlotte Bray”
The Times, review of Replay by Richard Morrison (30 June 2011)
“a keen urge to communicate. It was all vivid and exhilarating. ”