About

Kirsty Devaney (b.1990) is a Birmingham-based composer and one of the leading composing education researchers in the UK. Her music, which has been called ‘beautifully precise and yet also subtly mysterious’ (Howard Skempton), is characterised by stripped-back vulnerable textures, often exploring freedom and aspects of improvisation. Her music has been aired on BBC Radio 3 New Music Show, shortlisted for a BASCA British Composer Award and performed by professional ensembles such as London Symphony Orchestra, Quatuor Bozzini, Orchestra of the Swan and Orkest De Ereprijs, across the UK, Europe and the USA. She specialises in working with and composing new for music for non-professional and student performers, producing personalised and site-specific works.

For over a decade, Kirsty has been a prominent voice on inequality and barriers to composing, winning the prestigious BERA Anna Craft Creativities in Education Prize in 2016. Working alongside school teachers and high profile music education organisations, including establishing and running the ‘Young Composers Project’ at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, she has facilitated in creating new pathways for many of today’s young composers. She commonly presents her research through international conferences, guest lectures, podcasts, and publications.