British composer
Kerensa Rosie Joanne Briggs (born 1991) is a British composer, primarily of choral and organ music. In 2022 she was appointed composer-in-residence with the
Saint Louis Chamber Chorus in
Missouri , USA, for a two-year term.
[1]
[2]
Family and education
The chapel of
King's College London , where Briggs studied; the
college choir has since performed several of Briggs's works.
Briggs was born in
Truro ,
Cornwall , in 1991,
[3] while her father,
David ,
[4] was organist and master of the choristers at
Truro Cathedral .
[5]
After her father moved to
Gloucester Cathedral , she sang in the youth choir there. She attended
The King's School in Gloucester from 1995 to 2002
[6] and later studied music at the
University of Bristol .
[7] Afterwards she sang with the
Choir of King's College London , where she held a choral scholarship and was awarded a
Master of Music degree in composition.
[1]
Career
Briggs plays the piano and harp and began composing as a child.
[7] In 2014 she was the joint winner of the
National Centre for Early Music Young Composers Award, for her composition Lamentations of Jeremiah .
[7]
[8]
She worked for a housing association in
Horsham ,
West Sussex , before becoming composer-in-residence at
Godolphin and Latymer School .
[7] In 2022 she began a two-year term as composer-in-residence with the
Saint Louis Chamber Chorus in the USA.
[9]
Her music, which is inspired by the
Anglican choral tradition ,
Gregorian chant , early music and jazz,
[7]
[10] has been performed at
St Paul's Cathedral and the
Sistine Chapel and has been broadcast on
BBC Radio and
Classic FM by ensembles such as the
Tallis Scholars and the
BBC Singers ,
[1] and also by the choir of
Pembroke College, Cambridge , under the direction of
Anna Lapwood .
[11] Briggs has been described as writing in a "generally tonal and audience-friendly idiom, not to mention a singer/performer-friendly idiom".
[4] Her choral works have been described by
The New York Times as "poignant, ambivalent, quietly devastating music" and by
BBC Music Magazine as "alluring and heartfelt",
[10]
[12] and have been performed at the
London Festival of Contemporary Church Music each year since 2018.
[13]
Briggs's Requiem was performed by the BBC Singers under the direction of
David Hill , with
Stephen Farr at the organ, during the
BBC Radio 3 Afternoon Concert series in November 2023 to mark
Remembrance Day ,
[14] and the world
premiere of her setting of the
O antiphon O Clavis David was sung by the choir of
Norwich Cathedral during the BBC Radio 3 broadcast of
Choral Evensong the following month.
[15]
[16]
Selected works
Briggs's works include the following:
[17]
Choral works
Organ works
Light in Darkness
Prelude on Pange Lingua
Other works
Forget (for piano trio or orchestra)
Cello Sonata
Apricity (for string quartet and percussion)
Discography
References
^
a
b
c
Composers-in-Residence . Saint Louis Chamber Chorus. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
^
Kerensa Briggs website . Retrieved 2 May 2023.
^ General Register Office, England and Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916−2007 , vol. 21, p. 342.
^
a
b
c
KHDX, "Review: Choral variations on a theme, capped by a world premiere" (undated). Retrieved 17 November 2023.
^
The Falmouth Packet , "Top organist returns to Truro Cathedral" , 8 March 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
^
Notable alumni - Kerensa Briggs (1995−2002) . The King's School, Gloucester. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
^
a
b
c
d
e
"Horsham composer 'overjoyed' at national recognition" . Sussex World . 10 December 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
^
The National Centre for Early Music, Young Composers Award: Previous winners . Retrieved 17 May 2023.
^
"Godolphin choirs sing Choral Evensong at St Albans Cathedral" . Godolphin and Latymer School. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
^
a
b
BBC Music Magazine ,
"Choral and Song: Kerensa Briggs" , 11 July 2023. Accessed 14 March 2024.
^
"Classical home listening: Anna Lapwood, Jeremy Denk and the best of Edinburgh" . The Guardian . 11 September 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
^
a
b
"5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Choral Music" . The New York Times . 5 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
^
"Festival performances of works by Kerensa Briggs" . London Festival of Contemporary Church Music. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
^
BBC Radio 3, Afternoon Concert: Kerensa Briggs's Requiem , 10 November 2023 . Retrieved 17 November 2023.
^
a
b
The Church Times , "BBC sets out its Christmas feast" , 30 November 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
^
BBC, "Christmas 2023 Religious Programming on the BBC" , 28 November 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
^
Music . Kerensa Briggs website. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
^ Kerensa Briggs, Composer's Reflections (chap. 9.2), pp. 173−188, in Annunciations: Sacred Music for the Twenty-First Century , George Corbett, ed. (2019).
^
The Scotsman , Album reviews, "Kerensa Briggs: Requiem (Delphian)" , 5 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
^
"Father & Daughter Classical Composers Premiere New Choral Work" . Broadway World. 14 April 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
^ David and Kerensa Briggs,
'A Festival of Psalms' World Premiere . 21 April 2023.
Church of the Heavenly Rest . via
YouTube . Retrieved 16 May 2023.
^
Catalogue No. DCD34298: Kerensa Briggs, Requiem . Delphian Records. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
International National Artists