John Godfrey

I am a specialist in contemporary art music; my research output encompasses composition and improvisation, performance of notated and partially-notated music, installations and performance environments, and computer programming. I am also the founder and director of Quiet Music Ensemble, a group dedicated to improvised and experimental music. My compositions have been performed in significant venues and broadcast in much of Europe, the USA, Australia, Russia, Hong Kong and Japan. Many appear on CD on labels including Cantaloupe and Decca Argo. I compose both for instrumental and electronic resources. Current compositional interests include spectral soundscapes, Experimental Music, compositions as inductive performance environments, liminal acoustic events as musical material. I have been an active professional performer of New Music since 1989, when I co-founded the cutting-edge group Icebreaker in the UK. In 1997, I became a founding member of Ireland’s leading New Music group, Crash Ensemble. In 2008, I established Quiet Music Ensemble, a band dedicated to experimental and (partially-)improvised music, and stylistically unique in Ireland. I have performed in numerous major venues and festivals worldwide. Many of my performances have been broadcast in Europe, USA and Australasia, and are recorded on CD with labels including Nonesuch, Decca, and Cantaloupe. I have worked with many renowned musicians, including Louis Andriessen, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Alvin Lucier, Pauline Oliveros, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Phill Niblock, David Toop, Gerald Barry, Kevin Volans, Donnacha Dennehy, Gavin Bryars, Michael Nyman, Glenn Branca, Bill Whelan, Michael Smetanin, Mark Applebaum, Gavin Friday, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Dawn Upshaw, Alan Pierson, Harry Spaarney and Joanna MacGregor. I am dedicated to the development of new and innovative performance practices through personal research and collaborative work with specialised performers, ensembles, compos

Composition, Contemporary Music (especially Experimental and Minimalist), Music Technology, Musically Interactive Computer Systems, Performance (especially of contemporary music, most particularly experimental music), improvisation, interpretation of unconventional scores, inter-disciplinary art, analysis

Composition; Improvisation; Performance; Experimental Music; Music Technology