Composers: Judith Weir and Anna

Meredith

Name: Judith Weir

Born in: 1954

She was an oboe player, performing with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and
studied composition with John Tavener during her schooldays. She went on to Cambridge
University
During this time, she began to write a series of operas (including King Harald’s Saga, The
Black Spider, A Night at the Chinese Opera, The Vanishing Bridegroom and Blond Eckbert)
The most recent opera is Miss Fortune, premiered at Bregenz in 2011, and then staged at the
Royal Opera House Covent Garden in 2012. In collaboration with director Margaret
Williams, Weir has created several opera films, including Scipio’s Dream, Hello Dolly,
and Armida.
As resident composer with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the 1990s, she
wrote several works for orchestra and chorus. She has been commissioned by the Boston
Symphony Orchestra the Minnesota Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta; and has written
concert works for singers.

Name: Anna Meredith

Born in: 1978

Anna Meredith (MBE) is a composer, producer and performer of both acoustic and
electronic music. Her sound is frequently described as ‘uncategorisable’ and ‘genre-
defying’. Her music fits into the different categories of contemporary classical, art pop,
techno and more.

Her music has been performed everywhere from the BBC Last Night of the Proms to flash
mob body-percussion performances at the M6 Services, PRADA, Chloe & Fendi fashion
campaigns, Apple adverts, films, TV shows, installations and documentaries, pop festivals,
clubs and classical concert halls worldwide and is regularly broadcast on BBC Radio 1, 2,
3, 4 & 6.

Her debut album varmints was released march 2016 with 4- and 5-star reviews from media
around the world. Her second album FIBs has been shortlisted for the 2020 Hyundai