James MacMillan is one of today’s most successful living composers and is also internationally active as a conductor. His musical language is flooded with influences from his Scottish heritage, Catholic faith, social conscience and close connection with Celtic folk music, blended with influences from Far Eastern, Scandinavian and Eastern European music.

MacMillan first became internationally recognised after the extraordinary success of The Confession of Isobel Gowdie at the BBC Proms in 1990. His prolific output has since been performed and broadcast around the world, placing him in the front rank of today’s composers. His major works include percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, which has received more than 400 performances, a cello concerto for Mstislav Rostropovich, large scale choral-orchestral work Quickening, and three symphonies. Recent major works include his St John Passion, co-commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Boston Symphony and Rundfunkchor Berlin, and his Violin Concerto, co-commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Concertgebouw Zaterdag Matinee and the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris. In 2010/11 MacMillan’s Piano Concerto No.3, Mysteries of Light received its world premiere by the Minnesota Orchestra and Jean-Yves Thibaudet conducted by Osmo Vänskä, and other recent first performances include trumpet concertino Seraph for Alison Balsom at the Wigmore Hall, chamber opera Clemency with Britten Sinfonia at the Royal Opera House 2 and the US premiere of MacMillan’s Violin Concerto with Vadim Repin at Carnegie Hall and in Philadelphia.

MacMillan’s music has been the focus of many major festivals and residencies over the years, and he held the position of Affiliate Composer of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra from 1990-2000, Artistic Director of the Philharmonia Orchestra's Music of Today series from 1992-2002, and Composer/Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic from 2000-2009.

In January 2005 MacMillan was the focus of a major retrospective in the BBC Symphony’s annual composer weekend at London’s Barbican Centre, where he conducted concerts with both the BBC Philharmonic and BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, MacMillan won the prestigious Ivor Novello Classical Music Award and the British Composer Award for Liturgical Music. During the 2009/10 season, the London Symphony Orchestra presented an ‘Artist Portrait’ on MacMillan which, alongside the world premiere of his Violin Concerto, included him conducting the orchestra in the 2009 City of London Festival, a revival of the St John Passion with Sir Colin Davis, and performances of his trumpet concerto Epiclesis and an education project based on his work for ensemble and orchestra Into the Ferment, both conducted by Kristjan Järvi. MacMillan is Composer in Residence at the 2012 Grafenegg Festival, the co-commissioners of his new choral-orchestral piece Credo. While at Grafenegg MacMillan conducts this work alongside the music of Britten and Vaughan Williams with the Tonkuenstler Orchestra, rehearses and performs Into the Ferment with young musicians and directs Ink Still Wet, a week-long composer/conductor workshop. His works will be performed throughout the Festival.

MacMillan continues his term as Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Kamer Filharmonie, which this season includes performing the Dutch premiere of his Violin Concerto as part of the Concertgebouw’s Zaterdag Matinee series. MacMillan has conducted orchestras such as the Baltimore Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Danish Radio Symphony and Gothenburg Symphony, and conducting highlights of the current season include the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Radio Symphony at the Wien Modern Festival and with the Orchestral Ensemble de Paris where MacMillan is Associate Composer for the 11/12 and 12/13 seasons.

James MacMillan has directed many of his own works on disc for Chandos, BIS and BMG. His latest releases include a live recording of his opera The Sacrifice from its premiere performance by the Welsh National Opera in 2007 on Chandos, a Grammy-nominated disc of Sun-Dogs and Visitatio Sepulchri with the Netherlands Radio Kamer Filharmonie and Choir on BIS, and an LSO Live disc of his St John Passion with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis. Upcoming releases include a disc featuring MacMillan’s violin concerto A Deep but Dazzling Darkness and his percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel with Colin Currie and the Netherlands Radio Kamer Filharmonie.

MacMillan was awarded a CBE in January 2004.

James MacMillan is represented by Intermusica. www.intermusica.co.uk/macmillan.
The works of James MacMillan are published by Boosey & Hawkes. For a composing biography, please visit the Boosey & Hawkes website.
2011/12 season / 697 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.

• Sample conducting programmes
• Worklist highlights

Sample conducting programmes

Key repertoire to place alongside MacMillan’s music includes: Britten, Stravinsky, Mendelssohn, Vaughan Williams, Shostakovich, Arvo Part, Kancheli, Messiaen, Prokofiev, Sibelius.

Grafenegg Festival, Tonkunstler Orchestra, September 2012
BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, Op. 33a
MACMILLAN Credo
MACMILLAN The Sacrifice: Three Interludes
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No.4

Vienna Radio Symphony (Wien Modern), November 2011
HOWARD Solar
BIRTWISTLE An Imaginary Landscape
RESCH Schlieren
HOWARD New work
CERHA Like a tragicomedy

London Symphony Orchestra, July 2009
MENDELSSOHN Overture The Hebrides Op.26 'Fingal's Cave'
MACMILLAN A meditation on Iona
MACMILLAN From Ayrshire
TCHAIKOVSKY Souvenir d'un lieu cher
MACMILLAN Tryst

Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, March 2010
MACMILLAN St John Passion

Munich Philharmonic, December 2007
GABRIELI Canzonas
BRITTEN Violin Concerto
MACMILLAN Symphony No.1

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, April 2007
BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No.4
MACMILLAN Quickening

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, March 2011
MACMILLAN: The Sacrifice - Three Interludes
WALTON: Viola Concerto
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis
MACMILLAN: The Confession of Isobel Gowdie

Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonie, January 2009
BRITTEN Prelude & Fugue Op.29
SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No.1
MACMILLAN Seven Last Words from the Cross

The Florida Orchestra, November 2009
MACMILLAN The Sacrifice: Three Interludes
MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No.4

BBC Philharmonic, February 2008
MESSIAEN Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum
MACMILLAN The Sacrifice: Three Interludes
KANCHELI Symphony No.5

Rotterdam Philharmonic, February 2009
BENNETT Diversions
MAXWELL DAVIES Temenos
MACMILLAN Symphony No.3 'Silence'

Royal Flemish Philharmonic, November 2008
STRAVINSKY Concerto in D
MACMILLAN Veni, Veni, Emmanuel
STRAVINSKY Variations: Aldous Huxley In Memoriam
MACMILLAN The Berserking

RTE National Symphony Orchestra, May 2008
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis
ADES Violin Concerto
HOLST The Planets

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, April 2008
MACMILLAN Stomp
MACMILLAN Piano Concerto No.2
BEETHOVEN Symphony No.2

Britten Sinfonia, November 2004
BRITTEN Prelude & Fugue
MACMILLAN Piano Concerto No.2
ARVO PÄRT Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten
BARTOK Music for Strings, Percussion & Celeste

BBC Philharmonic, February 2008
KALEVI AHO Rejoicing of deep waters
KALEVI AHO Double Cello Concerto
KALEVI AHO Symphony No.10

BBC Philharmonic, May 2003
BIRTWISTLE Cry of Anubis (Tuba concerto)
BIRTWISTLE Exody
BIRTWISTLE Bach Measures

BBC Philharmonic, October 2004
MAGNUS LINDBERG Parada
MAGNUS LINDBERG Clarinet Concerto
MAGNUS LINDBERG Concerto for Orchestra

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Worklist highlights

Tryst (1989) 30’
Chamber Orchestra

The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (1990) 26’
Symphony Orchestra

Veni, Veni, Emmanuel (1992) 28’
Percussion concerto - solo percussion and chamber / symphony orchestra

Seven Last Words from the Cross (1992) 46’
Cantata for choir and strings

The World’s Ransoming (1996) 20’
Cor anglais concerto - solo cor anglais and symphony orchestra

Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (2000) 20’
Chorus with organ or symphony orchestra

A Deep but Dazzling Darkness (2002) 22’
Solo violin and ensemble (20 musicians), tape

Symphony No.3 ‘Silence’ (2002) 37’
Symphony orchestra

The Sacrifice: Three Interludes (2006) 15’
Symphony orchestra

St John Passion (2007) 87’
Solo baritone, chorus and orchestra

Violin Concerto (to be premiered in May 2010)
Solo violin and symphony orchestra

Piano Concerto No.3 (to be premiered in 2011)
Solo piano and symphony orchestra

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DISCOGRAPHY AS CONDUCTOR / COMPOSER

DISCOGRAPHY AS COMPOSER

James MacMillan conducts the Netherlands Radio Kamer Philharmonie in a recording of his Visitatio Sepulchri and Sun Dogs on BIS
“The composer’s intense conducting adds greatly to the impact of an extended piece in three scenes... Altogether a fine coupling of two superb works, a credit to the performers.”
Gramophone, August 2010

MacMillan conducts the Florida Orchestra
“The Florida Orchestra has done an excellent thing by bringing in Scottish composer James MacMillan to conduct not only his own music but also that of Ralph Vaughan Williams, an earlier British master with whom he clearly has a kinship.

MacMillan's Interludes opened the concert with a compact display of his gift for orchestral color, especially in the percussion writing. The way that moments of shimmering delicacy and precision were punctuated by mighty blasts in the brass and percussion reminded me of Shostakovich. The orchestra gave an alert performance for the composer, whose conducting style is clear and energetic.

Part of MacMillan's mission in coming to Florida was to spread the gospel of British music, and he succeeded splendidly on that score with Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.4... Amid the tumult there was a lush loveliness to the music under MacMillan's baton, as in the surprisingly gentle dissonance of the opening theme and the dreamy flute solo that ended the second movement. The frenetic finish left the audience in stunned silence before breaking into applause.”
St. Petersburg Times, Florida, November 2009

MacMillan conducts the Baltimore Symphony
“MacMillan brought obvious authority to the podium and drew some lively playing from the BSO strings in the concerto… The edgy, unpredictable qualities in MacMillan's music helped to reiterate just how edgy and unpredictable Beethoven could be, even in such an early symphony as this one. Every sudden dynamic shift in the latter recalled to mind all the surprises in the former... Beethoven's Second Symphony is particularly rich in potent ideas, as MacMillan illustrated in remarks to the audience before going on to produce a thoughtful, invigorating performance. He offered much more than mere traffic control, emphasizing the work's sinewy power and paying attention to the subtleties that give it so much character. The orchestra jumped into the action with impressive force.”
The Baltimore Sun, April 2008

“For audiences who think they hate modern music, there's nothing to fear here… this music is wild stuff, but it's good, vigorous music and deserves to be performed by major ensembles... A scintillating reading of Beethoven's delightful but infrequently performed Symphony No. 2… The players executed Mr. MacMillan's sunny concept of the work with infectious enthusiasm, particularly in the quirky scherzo and the rousing finale.”
The Washington Times, April 2008

MacMillan conducts the BBC Philharmonic
“A towering performance by the BBC Philharmonic under the composer James MacMillan. He is proving a conductor of daunting ability.”
The Sunday Times, May 2003

“…an orchestral concert delivered with supreme confidence by the BBC Philharmonic under James MacMillan…given a conductor as attuned as MacMillan to large-scale drama as well as to immediacy of impact, and given an orchestra for whom no challenge is too much, the sheer élan of the writing was again hard to resist.”
The Daily Telegraph, October 2004

“MacMillan himself conducted the BBC Philharmonic for Saturday’s Pickaquoy Centre performance of his own The Confession of Isobel Gowdie. Sixteen years on from the performances that established his name, the composer produced a seamless, swift account of the score.”
The Herald, June 2006

These are featured projects related to James MacMillan:

New York Times review
A New Scottish Concerto, Dressed Up and Dreamy Steve Smith, New York Times 3 March 2011 During the 1990s the Scottish composer James MacMillan was promoted widely as the brightest hope of his generation: a creator who replaced modernist aridity with communicative directness. His initial promise has been borne out since in a diverse body of substantial works — including multiple symphonies, concertos and operas — through which he has...

LSO Artist Portrait
JAMES MACMILLAN: 2009/10 Artist Portrait with the London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra presents an Artist Portrait of James MacMillan throughout the 2009/10 season. To coincide with the composer’s 50th birthday, the LSO explores a range of his output, including the St John Passion, which the Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis premiered in April 2008. The Portrait season was opened with a concert conducted by MacMillan, and...

St John Passion
James MacMillan's ST JOHN PASSION World premiere, 27 April 2008 Barbican Hall, London Sir Colin Davis conductor London Symphony Orchestra Christopher Maltman baritone Narrator Chorus | London Symphony Chrous MEDIA Click on the link below to hear James MacMillan discussing his St John Passion with Sandy Burnett: Hear an extract from the LSO Live recording of the St John Passion, 'The arrest of Jesus': Hear an extract from...