Fergus Johnston

Fergus Johnston (born 21 May 1959) is an Irish composer and member of Aosdána.
Life and career
Johnston was born in Dublin, the son of the physicist and political activist Roy H. W. Johnston, and studied for both a degree in music and a master's degree in Music and Media Technology at Trinity College Dublin (MusB 1982). He also has a PhD in composition from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Initially he had also studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin (flute with Doris Keogh, clarinet with Tim Hanafin, and composition with James Wilson). In 1985 he was invited by the European Community Youth Orchestra to write an orchestral piece under the guidance of György Ligeti. 1989-91 he was Chairman of the Association of Irish Composers. He completed his education with the English composer Robert Hanson.
Johnston's output includes works for both orchestra and smaller ensembles, some works of which include electronics, and two operas. His music has been performed at many venues and festivals including the 1985 Asolo Musica Festival in Italy, the 1996 International Society for Contemporary Music Festival, the 2001 Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music in Belfast, and Raidió Teilifís Éireann's 2005 Living Music Festival. His use of system is unusual among Irish composers, his compositional process typically including a significant element of pre-planning.
Selected works
Stage
Bitter Fruit (Nell McCafferty) (1992), chamber opera
The Earl of Kildare (Celia de Fréine) (2008), opera
Orchestral works
Samsara (1991)
Flute Concerto (1996; rev. 2003)
Je goûte le jeu ... (1997), for string orchestra
Wind Symphony (1998), for wind band
Through Hollow Lands (2002)
Binn an tSíorsholais (2004)
Wexford Suite (2005)
Brahms Begins the Day (2006)
Scenes and Interludes from 'The Earl of Kildare (2008)Chamber music Timon of Athens (William Shakespeare), incidental music (1983), 2fl, 2cl+bcl, bn, vn, gui, perc, 3 speakers
Reflections (1984), ob, 2cl, bn, hp, vib, str qt
Brass Quintet (1985)
Episodes 1 (1986), fl, trb, egui, perc
Episodes 2 (1987), fl, ob, cl
Signals! (1989), vn, dancers (opt.)
Incantations (1989), cl+bcl, perc
Cusp (1992), vn, pf
Kaleidophone (1992; rev. 1996), 2vn, va, vc, hp, perc
Gabor Haenjo’s Variations on a Theme by Paganini (1993), cl, vc, pf
Carn (1993), 2pf
Líofa (1994), fl, cor ang, bcl, hn, str qt
Opus Lepidipterae (1996), fl, pf/arec, gui/fl, hpd
Piano Trio (2012)
Toccata, Fugue, and A Camel's Swan-Song (2013), vc, pf
String Quartet (2015), vn, va, vc, dbSolo instrumental Three Pieces for Double Bass (1980)
Pavan and Galliard (1984), guitar
Two Pieces for Solo Flute (1987)
Prelude & Passacaglia (1987), violin
Psyche (1992), alto recorder
creepy crawlies (1993), piano
Prelude (1993), piano
Three Piano Pieces (1995)
Éagaoineadh (1995), piano
The Oul’ Winda Rag (1996), piano
Rashad's Words (1999), percussion
Lord Leonard Gray, His March (2006), piano
Three Bulgarian Dances (2007), organ
Miniatures for Scott (2015), pianoVocal Two T’ang Poems (Li Ho) (1984), soprano and chamber orchestra
The Wisdom of the World (1990), mezzo and Irish harp
After a Childhood Away from Ireland (Eavan Boland) (1997), soprano and piano
Five Oriental Texts (2015), soprano and chamber orchestraChoral Three Songs on Words by e.e.cummings (1981; rev. 1982), S, fl, cl, bn
now I lay (with everywhere around) (e.e. cummings) (1983), satb
Praise Music (Psalms) (1988), satb
Sine musica nulla vita (1988), ssatb
The Little Snowgirl (1991), A, B, children's vv, female vv, orch
Psalm 84 (1996; rev. 1997), satb & organElectro-acoustic'''
Morríghan (2000), baroque fl, hpd, live electronics
Méadú (2001), vn, pf, tape
Árd Fhearta (2001), 2ob, 2fl, 2cl, 2bn, 2tpt, 2trb, tb, bronze-age hn, live electronics
RecordingsSamsara, performed by Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra, Tsanko Delibosov (cond), on: Vienna Modern Masters VMM 3035 (CD, 1996).Kaleidophone, performed by Concorde, on: Contemporary Music Centre CD02 (promotional CD, 1997).Je goûte le jeu ..., performed by Irish Chamber Orchestra, Fionnuala Hunt (cond), on: Black Box Music BBM 1013 (CD, 1998).Árd Fhearta; Carn; Signals; Samsara, performed by Reamonn Keary (pf), Shirin Goudarze-Tobin & Frantisek Jaros (vn), Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra, Tsanko Delibosov (cond), on: Monumental Music MOMU 014 (CD, 2001).Three Bulgarian Pieces, performed by Vox 21, on: RTÉ lyric fm CD 123 (CD, 2009).
Piano Trio, performed by Fidelio Trio, on: Metier MSV 28556 (CD, 2015).
Honours and awards
1989 – Macaulay Fellowship, Arts Council of Ireland
1992 – Elected to Aosdána, Ireland's Academy of Arts.
1996-2001 - Appointed as member of the Board of Directors of the National Concert Hall of Ireland, An Ceoláras Náisiúnta.
References
Sources
Arts Council of Ireland reference page
Fergus Johnston at the Contemporary Music Centre of Ireland
Axel Klein: Die Musik Irlands im 20. Jahrhundert (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1996)The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland'', ed. H. White & B. Boydell (Dublin: UCD Press, 2013)
External links
Fergus Johnston's website
Scores by Fergus Johnston
Arts Council of Ireland reference page
Fergus Johnston at the Contemporary Music Centre of Ireland
1959 births
20th-century Irish classical composers
20th-century Irish male musicians
21st-century Irish classical composers
21st-century Irish male musicians
Aosdána members
Electroacoustic music composers
Irish male classical composers
Irish opera composers
Living people
Male opera composers
Modernist composers
Musicians from Dublin (city)