# Nigel Osborne

Nigel Osborne MBE (born 23 June 1948) is a British composer, teacher and aid worker. He served as Reid Professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh and has also taught at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover. Known for his extensive charity work supporting war traumatised children using music therapy techniques, especially in the Balkans during the Bosnian War, and in the Syrian conflict. He speaks eight languages.
Osborne was born in Manchester, England, to a Scottish family. He studied composition with Kenneth Leighton, Egon Wellesz, and Witold Rudziński. His compositions include the opera The Electrification of the Soviet Union, Concerto for Flute and Chamber Orchestra commissioned by the City of London Sinfonia, I am Goya, Remembering Esenin, and Birth of the Beatles Symphony.
Osborne retired from his Edinburgh University position in 2012, and is now working internationally as freelance composer, arranger and aid worker. Currently working with war-traumatised children from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

## Career

Osborne studied composition with Egon Wellesz, first pupil of Arnold Schoenberg (1968–69), also with Kenneth Leighton (his predecessor as Reid Professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh) at Oxford University (1969–70), and later in Warsaw with Witold Rudziński (1970–71) where he also he worked in the Polish Radio Experimental Studio. From 1983 until 1985, while at the IRCAM in Paris, Osborne co-founded Contemporary Music Review with Tod Machover. He held a special professorship at the University of Nottingham from 1978 to 1987, the Reid Chair and Dean of the Faculty of Music at Edinburgh University from 1989 to 2012, a senior professorship (C4) at the University of Hannover from 1996 to 1998 and head of faculty for the Vienna–Prague–Budapest Summer Academy (ISA) from 2007 to 2014. Currently professor emeritus at Edinburgh University, visiting professor in the drama faculty of Rijeka University and consultant to the Chinese Music Institute, Peking University. He has worked as visiting lecturer and examiner also at Harvard, UCLA, CalArts, Gedai and Toho Gakuen School of Music, Oxford, the Sorbonne and Bologna.
Osborne's works have been performed internationally by Vienna Symphony, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Leningrad Philharmonic, the Philharmonia of London, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony, Glyndebourne, Opera Circus, Opera Factory, Scottish Opera and the Royal Opera House. He has received, among numerous awards, a Netherlands Gaudeamus prize, the Opera Prize of the Radio Sussie Romande and Ville de Geneve, and the Koussevitzky Award of the Library of Congress Washington.
In the 1980s, Osborne composed a series of classic works for choreographer Richard Alston and Ballet Rambert. Master of Music at the Shakespeare's Globe (1999–2000), and since 2000 has been house composer for Ulysses Theatre, Istria. Osborne has collaborated with directors Lenka Udovicki, Peter Sellars, David Pountney, Michael McCarthy and David Freeman, and with writers Samuel Beckett, Craig Raine, Eve Ensler, Jo Shapcott, Howard Barker, Ariel Dorfman, Tena Štivičić and Goran Simić, with notable actors Vanessa Redgrave, Annette Bening, Lynn Redgrave, Amanda Plummer, Rade Šerbedžija, Simon Callow, Ian McDiarmid and Janet Henfrey, also with artists and designers John Hoyland, Dick Smith, George Tsypin, David Roger, Bjanka Adzic Ursulov and Peter Mumford. Singers and soloists with whom Osborne has collaborated include pioneers of contemporary music, such as Jane Manning, Linda Hirst, Liz Lawrence and Omar Ebrahim, alongside long-standing collaborations with artists Florian Kitt, Ernst Kovacic and the Hebrides Ensemble. Osborne's film documentary credits include BAFTA-winning and -nominated collaborations with director Samir Mehanović, an EMMY-winning collaboration with the BBC, and the film Dans un océan d'images with Helen Doyle and InformAction, Montreal. He has a special interest in Arabic, Indian and Chinese music.
Osborne has pioneered methods of using music and the creative arts to support children who are victims of conflict. This approach was developed during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992–95), and since then this work has been implemented widely in the Balkan region, the Caucasus, the Middle East, East Africa, South East Asia and India. He was also awarded the Freedom Prize of the Peace Institute, Sarajevo, for his work for Bosnian children during the siege of the city. Osborne has worked actively in human rights initiatives, Workers' Defence Committee in Poland (1970–89), Citizens' Forum and the Jazz Section with Václav Havel in former Czechoslovakia (1987–1989), for Syrian refugee support organisations. During the genocide Osborne worked directly for the Government of Bosnia-Herzegovina. From 2012 until 2014, Osborne served as co-chair of the Global Agenda Committee for Arts in Society for the World Economic Forum.
In 2004 Osborne began an artistic relationship with 'Opera Circus', a chamber opera and music theatre company based in West Dorset UK during which the Bosnian sevdah opera Differences in Demolitions was produced, with Bosnian poet Goran Simić and Scottish conductor William Conway. Opera Circus toured through BiH in 2017.
Osborne has been active in supporting the development of new music technologies, for example the Skoog, and is co-inventor with Paul Robertson of X-System, an 'informatic modelling of the musical brain'. In December 2017 he received the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors' (BASCA) Award for Inspiration. Osborne was awarded both the Queen's Prize and Music Industry Prize for innovation in education, and was recently made honorary fellow of the Educational Institute of Scotland. He is a director of the Scottish educational development company, Tapestry Partnership.
In 2017, Osborne was commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra to arrange Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for the ‘It Was Fifty Years Ago Today’ concerts with the Bootleg Beatles performed to capacity crowds at the Royal Albert Hall and Echo Arena Liverpool.

## Publications
### Scientific and scholarly publications

* Osborne, Nigel. (23 February 2017). Handbook of Musical Identities - "The Identities of Sevda: from Graeco-Arabic medicine to music therapy". Editors: MacDonald, Hargreaves and Miell. ISBN 9780199679485. Oxford University Press. (Oxford, UK and New York).
* Osborne, Nigel. (21 February 2017) Love, Rhythm and Chronobiology in Rhythms of Relating in Children's Therapies – 'Connecting Creatively with Vulnerable Children'. Editors: Daniel and Trevarthen. ISBN 9781784502843. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. (London, UK and Philadelphia, USA).
* Osborne, Nigel. (2014). "The Plenum Brain in Unbribable Bosnia and Herzegovina". p. 174. Editor: D. Arsenijević South East European integration perspectives. ISBN print: ISBN 978-3-8487-1634-0, ISBN online: ISBN 978-3-8452-5674-0. Nomos Verlag. (Baden-Baden, Germany).
* Trevarthen, Colwyn; Gratier, Maya; Osborne, Nigel (2014). "The human nature of culture and education". Cognitive Science. 5 (2). Hoboken, New Jersey: 173–192. doi:10.1002/wcs.1276. ISSN 1939-5078. PMID 26304307.
* Osborne, Nigel. (July 2013). "Resilience and recovery – violence, disasters and the arts, presentation, Global Alliance for Arts and Health". APPG on Agriculture and Food for Development. Library of Congress. (Washington DC, USA).
* Osborne, Nigel. (23 April 2012). "Neuroscience and real world practice: music as a therapeutic resource for children in zones of conflict". New York Academy of Sciences. Neurosciences and Music. (New York, USA).
* Osborne, Nigel. 2009. "Music for children in zones of conflict and postconflict: a psychobiological approach". In Communicative Musicality. Editors: S. Malloch and C. Trevarthen. ISSN 0077-8923. Oxford University Press and New York Academy of Sciences. (Oxford, UK and New York, USA).
* Klempe, Hroar (2009). "How to Understand Communicative Musicality?". Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science. 43 (3): 260–266. doi:10.1007/s12124-009-9096-9. ISSN 1932-4502. S2CID 144409675.

### Selected publications
#### University of York Music Press

Source:
* 2013
    The Painters in my Garden for three flutes
    A Prayer and Two Blessings for SATB choir
* 2011
    Botanical Studies for oboe and percussion
* 2010
    Concertino for Violin and Orchestra for solo violin and orchestra
    Differences in Demolition (A sevdah opera)
    I am not here for voice and piano (only available in Songs for the Twenty-First Century)
    Journey to the End of the Night for oboe, percussion and electronics
    SMTBarBar for soli, clarinet, percussion, violin, viola, cello, accordion and machine sounds Stargazing string quartet
* 2009
    The Birth of Naciketas guitar concertante for guitar, Indian violin, tabla, string quartet,double bass and percussion
* 2009
    Afro-Scottish for children's choir, SATB choir and jazz orchestra
    Angel-Nebulae for TTTB soli
    East for symphony orchestra
    La Belle Hélène for three flutes (doubling alto flute and piccolo) and cello
    Naturtöne / Abschied SATTBarB choir
    Queens of Govan for chamber opera for mezzo soprano, recorded voices and 15 instruments
    Rock Music for 12 instruments and electronic materials
    7 Words, 7 Icons, 7 Cities for SATB choir (with divisi) and string orchestra
    Stone Garden for 2 cellos and accordion
    Tiree string quartet
    Transformations for 2 solo oboe d'amore 2009 Dialogue oboe and harp
* 2008
    Concerto for Viola and Orchestra
    Roma Diary for cello and piano
* 2007
    Balkan Dances and Laments for oboe, piano, violin, viola and cello
    Sarajevo for clarinet, piano and cello
    Transformations for 1 two violas 2007 Taw-Raw solo violin
* 2006
    The Piano Tuner for piano trio
    Pulsus for CtTTBar soli and monochord
* 2004
    String Quartet No. 1 Medicinal Songs and Dances
* 1999
    Concerto for Oboe and Chamber Orchestra

#### Universal Edition

Source:
* Various
    Adagio für Vedran Smailović für Violoncello
    After Night | 1977: für Gitarre | 8
    Figure/Ground für Klavier solo
    For a Moment für Frauenchor, Violoncello und Kandyan Drum (ad lib.) | 15
    Remembering esenin für Violoncello und Klavier
* 2013
    Espionage | 2013: 3 miniature sonatas, studies in Poussin and happenstance | für Violine solo | 8
* 1993
    The Art of Fugue | 1993: für Violoncello und Instrumente | 20 2 2 2 2 – 2 2 0 0 – Schl – Str
    Hommage à Panufnik | 1993: für Streichorchester | 8
* 1992
* Terrible Mouth | 1992 Musiktheater | 120
* 1991
    Albanian Nights | 1991: für Ensemble | 12 2 2 2 2 – 2 0 0 0
    Graffiti after Cy Twombly | 1991: on the musical letters of Alfred Schlee | für Streichquartett
    Schleedoyer II | 1991: für Streichquartett | 1 30
    The Sun of Venice | 1991: für Orchester | 25 – 30' 3 3 3 3 – 3 3 2 1 – Schl(3) – 2 Hf, Cel, Klav – Str – 2 konzertante Gruppen
* 1990
    Canzona – Procession of Boats with Distant, Smoke, Venice | 1990: für Horn, 4 Trompeten, 4 Posaunen und Tuba | 12
    Eulogy | 1990: für Kammerensemble | 8 1 1 1 1 – 1 1 1 0 – Schl, Klav, StrQuint
    Tracks | 1990: für 2 gemischte Chöre, Orchester und Blasorchester | 30 4 4 5 5 – 6 4 4 1 – Pk, Schl(4), Hf, Klav, Str; 3 4 6 5 – 6 4 6 1 – Schl(6), 6 Kor, 4 Euph
    Violin Concerto | 1990: für Violine und Orchester | 22 2 2 2 2 – 3 2 2 0 – Schl(3) – Hf, Klav – Str
* 1988
    Esquisse 2 | 1988: für 11 Solostreicher | 10 Vl(6), Va(2), Vc(2), Kb(1)
    Stone Garden | 1988: für Kammerensemble | 15 Fl, Ob, Kl, Fg, Hr, Trp, Pos – Schl – Hf – StreichQuint
* 1987
    The Electrification of the Soviet Union | 1987: Oper in 2 Akten | 120
    Esquisse 1 | 1987: für 11 Solostreicher | 7 Vl(6), Va(2), Vc(2), Kb(1)
* 1985
    Hell's Angels | 1985: Kammeroper in 2 Akten | 120 Kaufausgabe
    Pornography | 1985 für Mezzosopran und Kammerensemble | 13
    Zansa | 1985: für Kammerensemble | 20 1 1 1 1 – 1 1 1 0 – Schl, Klav, "Zansa" – 2 Vl, Va, Vc, Kb
* 1984
    Alba | 1984: für Mezzosopran, Kammerorchester und Tonband | 17 1 1 1 0 – 1 1 1 0 – Schl – Hf – 2 Vl, Va, Vc, Kb
    Wildlife | 1984: für Kammerensemble | 20 Fl, Kl – Hr, Trp – Schl – Hf – Vl, Va, Vc, elektrischer Kb – Elektronik
* 1983
    Fantasia | 1983: für Kammerensemble | 12 1 1 1 1 – 1 0 0 0 – Klav, Vl(1), Va(1), Vc(1), Kb(1)
    2. Sinfonia | 1983: für Orchester | 19 4 4 4 5 – 4 4 4 1 – Schl, Vib, Hf, Cel, Klav, T-T, Str Kaufausgabe
* 1982
    Cantata piccola | 1982 für Sopran und Streichquartett | 10
    1. Sinfonia | 1982: für Orchester | 23 4 3 4 3 – 6 4 4 1 – Schl(2) – Hf – Str(16 12 10 8 6)
* 1981
    The Cage | 1981: für Tenor und Kammerensemble | 14 Afl(G), Ob, Kl, Fg, Hr, Trp – Vl, Vl, Vc
    Choralis 1-2-3 | 1981-1982: für Sopran, 2 Mezzosoprane, Tenor, Bariton und Bass
    Piano Sonata | 1981: für Klavier | 25
* 1980
    Concerto | 1980: für Flöte und Kammerorchester | 16 Ob(2), Hr(2), Str: Vl.I(6), Vl.II(4), Va(3), Vc(2), Kb(1)
    Mythologies | 1980: für Kammerensemble | 15 Kaufausgabe
    Poem without a Hero | 1980: für Sopran, Mezzosopran, Tenor, Bass und Live-Elektronik | 20
* 1979
    In Camera | 1979: für Kammerensemble | 19
    Madeleine de la Ste. Baume | 1979: für Sopran und Kontrabass
    Songs From a Bare Mountain | 1979: für Frauenchor | 6
    Under the Eyes | 1979: für Stimme, Schlagzeug, Klavier, Oboe (auch EH) und Flöte (auch Altfl.) | 9
* 1977
    Cello Concerto | 1977: für Violoncello und Orchester | 17
    I am Goya | 1977: für Bassbariton, Flöte, Oboe, Violine und Violoncello | 12
    Orlando Furioso | 1977: für gemischten Chor und Bläserensemble | 35
    Vienna – Zurich – Constance | 1977: für Sopran, Violine, Violoncello, 2 Klarinetten und Schlagzeug | 10
* 1976
    Passers By | 1976: für Bassblockflöte, Stimme, Violoncello, Elektronik und Bilder
* 1975
    Chansonnier | 1975: für gemischten Chor und Kammerensemble | 16
    Prelude and Fugue | 1975: für Kammerensemble | 17
    The Sickle | 1975: für Sopran und Orchester | 11 2 2 2 2 – 2 2 0 0 – Schl – Hf, Git – Str(6 6 4 4 2)
* 1974
    Kinderkreuzzug | 1974: für Kinderchor (Vokalisen) und Instrumentalensemble | 22
* 1971
    7 Words | 1971: Kantate | für 2 Tenöre, Bass, gemischten Chor und Orchester | 24 4 3 4 2 – 3 3 3 0 – Schl, Ondes Martenot, Hf, Sax(3), Str(4 4 4 4 2)

### Reviews

Reviews by Nigel Osborne:
* Osborne, Nigel (1989). "Reviewed work: Stockhausen on Music, Robin Maconie; Stockhausen: Eine Biographie, Michael Kurtz; Stockhausen: Samstag aus Licht; Stockhausen: Klavierstücke XII, XIII, XIV, Bernhard Wambach". Tempo (171): 37–39. JSTOR 945245.
* — (1983). "Reviewed work: East-West Encounters – McPhee: Balinese Ceremonial Music; Young: Trajet/Inter/Lignes; Messiaen: Cantéyodjayâ; Crumb: Vox Balaenae. Dreamtiger". Tempo (146): 45–47. JSTOR 944975.
* — (1983). "Reviewed work: Douglas Young: The Hunting of the Snark, Peter Easton, Leicestershire Chorale, Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra, Peter Fletcher". Tempo (145): 38–39. JSTOR 945042.
* — (1983). "Reviewed work: Michael Nyman. Bird Anthem; in Re Don Giovanni; Initial Treat/Secondary Treat; Waltz; Bird List Song: M-Work, Michael Nyman Band". Tempo (144): 40–41. JSTOR 945899.
* — (1983). "Reviewed work: Louis Andriessen: De Tijd (Time), Ensemble of the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, Reinbert de Leeuw; Diderik Wagenaar: Tam Tam. Cornelis de Bondt: Bint, Louis Andriessen". Tempo (144): 38–40. JSTOR 945898.
* — (1979). "Recent Polish Music". Music & Letters. 60 (1): 117–120. doi:10.1093/ml/60.1.117-b. JSTOR 733569.

## Filmography

* 2018
    Through Our Eyes – composer
    A Story of Three Islands – composer
    I am Swimming – composer
* 2015
    The Fog of Srebrenica – composer
* 2014
    Frameworks: Images of a Changing World (Dans un océan d'images) – composer
* 2006
    The Way We Played – composer
* 2003
    Les messagers – composer
* 1990
    View from the Bridge – composer
* 1988
    The Electrification of the Soviet Union – composer
* 1987
    Wildlife – composer
* 1984
    The Sea of Faith (6-part documentary series) – composer

## Education

BA, BMus(Oxon), DLitt, FRCM, FEIS, FRSE

## Awards

* British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors Award (BASCA) (2017)
* BH Radio 1 Prize (2016)
* Honorary Fellow of the Educational Institute of Scotland (2015)
* DLitt Queen Margaret University (2013)
* Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2011)
* Freedom Prize of the Peace Institute Sarajevo (2007)
* MBE (2003)
* Queen's Anniversary Prize (1996)
* Fellow of the Royal College of Music (1996)
* Thorn EMI Prize for Music Education (1993)
* Koussevitzky Award of the Library of Congress Washington (1985)
* Radcliffe Award (1977)
* Netherlands Gaudeamus Prize (1973)
* International Opera Prize of Radio Suisse Romande and Ville de Geneve (1971)
* Osgood Award University of Oxford (1970)

## Sources

* Scottish Arts Council profile article
* The Guardian – "The riddle of the rocks" – on his 2008 trip to Uganda
* The Independent – Right of Reply: "The composer Nigel Osborne defends his opera trilogy, Sarajevo"

## Citations and references

* ↑ Arts & Ents. (21 June 2012). 'The professor who rocked the establishment'. Herald Scotland. (United Kingdom)
* ↑ Carmack, Elizabeth. (January 2005). "Balkans’ Summer Music Camp 2004". Cambridge Music Conference. (Puntižela/Pula, Croatia)
* ↑ Osborne, Nigel. (24 July 2013). "Nigel Osborne – Music and Trauma". The Musical Brain 2013 Conference. YouTube.
* ↑ Morris, Christian. (30 January 2018). 'Nigel Osborne Interview'. Composition Today.
* ↑ Bradley, Jane. (8 December 2015). "Composer brings music to children in refugee camps". The Scotsman. (Scotland, UK).
* ↑ "Nigel Osborne". Cambridge Music Conference, 8 December 2015. United Kingdom.
* ↑ Bunting, Madeleine. (1 October 2008). "The riddle of the rocks". The Guardian, United Kingdom.
* ↑ O'Mahony, John. (9 July 2002). "Notes from the underground". The Guardian, United Kingdom.
* ↑ Osborne, Nigel. (1980). "Nigel Osborne: Concerto". Universal Edition. City of London Sinfonia, United Kingdom.
* ↑ Osborne, Nigel. (1977). "I am Goya", Nigel Osborne (text by Andrei Voznesensky; English translation by Nigel Osborne)]. National Library of Australia.
* ↑ Osborne, Nigel. "Nigel Osborne: Remembering Esenin". Universal Edition
* ↑ Jones, Catherine. (14 January 2018). "Review: Celebrating Sgt Pepper Live at Echo Arena". Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Echo Arena. (Liverpool, England).
* ↑ Osborne, Nigel. (23 February 2023). “I don't know why I'm angry, I'm angry, I'm angry…”. VAN Magazine.
* ↑ Unbroken: composer uses music to help Ukrainians through trauma (requires login). (9 November 2023). Page 13: The Times
* ↑ Błaszczyk, Bolesław. (11 February 2014). "Polish Radio Experimental Studio: A Galaxy of Writings, Prints, and Sound". (Poland)
* ↑ "A Poetry of Reality Composing with Recorded Sound". Contemporary Music Review, 1985. (Paris, France)
* ↑ "The Sound of Peking University Resounding through Scotland". 北京大学中国音乐学社. Douban, 19 December 2012. (Scotland and China).
* ↑ (19 Apruk 2018). Art, War and Peace. Bournemouth University
* ↑ Seckerson, Edward. (13 October 2004). "The Piano Tuner, Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House, London". The Independent. (United Kingdom).
* ↑ "Richard Alston Choreochronicle". Richard Alston.
* ↑ The Tempest (2000). Shakespeare's Globe. (London, UK).
* ↑ Nigel Osborne, composer at IMDb
* ↑ Colwyn Trevarthen, Maya Gratier, Nigel Osborne. "The human nature of culture and education". Wiley Online Library.
* ↑ Nickalls, Susan. (23 July 1995). "Music, the food of love". The Independent. (United Kingdom).
* ↑ "Lola War Child powerpoint". SlideShare.
* ↑ "An Interview with Nigel Osborne". Voices (a world forum for Music Therapy)]
* ↑ "History". War Child Holland.
* ↑ "Composer brings music to children in refugee camps". The Scotsman. (Scotland)
* ↑ "Indian classical music is powerful in therapeutic processes". The Times of India
* ↑ "Scots composer to be honoured for peace work". Sunday Herald. (Scotland)
* ↑ "Nigel Osborne sutra u sarajevskom 'Zvonu'". Bosnian National Network, 28 February 2016.
* ↑ "Nigel Osborne Interview". Composition Today.
* ↑ "Nigel Osborne". World Economic Forum.
* ↑ Opera Circus
* ↑ Jeal, Erica. (12 July 2007). Differences in Demolition. The Guardian
* ↑ "X-System: The Affect of Music" Our Team.
* ↑ "Tapestry Partnership". (Scotland).
* ↑ "It Was Fifty Years Ago Today – A Concert celebrating Sgt Pepper and the Summer of Love". Bootleg Beatles. Royal Albert Hall, 1 June 2017. (London, UK)
* ↑ Osborne, Nigel. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 'It Was 50 Years Ago Today'". Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. YouTube. (England, UK).
* ↑ Jones, Catherine. (1 June 2017). "Review: It Was 50 Years Ago Today ****". Arts City Liverpool. (United Kingdom).
* ↑ Osborne, Nigel. "Nigel Osborne House composer". University of York Music Press
* ↑ Osborne, Nigel. "Nigel Osborne biography". Universal Edition
* ↑ Osborne, Nigel & Clein, Natalie. "Adagio for Vedran Smailovic". BBC Music. (United Kingdom).
* ↑ Through Our Eyes at IMDb
* ↑ The Fog of Srebrenica at IMDb
* ↑ Dans un océan d'images at IMDb
* ↑ The Way We Played at IMDb
* ↑ Les messagers at IMDb