Editing Andrew Downes (composer)

{{Short description|British composer (1950–2023)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Andrew Downes
| image              = 
| image_upright      = 
| caption            = 
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1950|08|20|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Birmingham]], England
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2023|01|02|1950|08|20|df=y}}
| death_place        = 
| education          = {{plainlist|
* [[St John's College, Cambridge]]
* [[Royal College of Music]]
}}
| occupation         = {{Hlist|Composer|academic teacher}}
| organization       = [[Birmingham Conservatoire]]
| awards             = 
| website            = {{Official URL}}
}}

'''Andrew Downes''' (20 August 1950 – 2 January 2023) was a British classical composer. He was head of the School of Composition and Creative Studies at [[Birmingham Conservatoire]] from 1992 until 2005. His compositions have been performed and broadcast internationally.

== Early life ==
Downes was born in [[Handsworth, Birmingham]].<ref name="Composers Alliance">{{cite web |url=https://composersalliance.com/composers/index.cfm?composer=167 |title=Andrew Downes |website=composersalliance.com |year= 2005 |access-date=7 January 2023}}</ref> He attended [[St. John's College, Cambridge]], on a scholarship, receiving his master's degree in composition.<ref name="Composers Alliance" /> In 1974 he studied with [[Herbert Howells]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Piano recital includes Howells' work |work=The Citizen |page=10 |date= 10 June 2005}}</ref> at the [[Royal College of Music]].<ref name="Composers Alliance" /> Downes was head of the School of Composition and Creative Studies at [[Birmingham Conservatoire]] from 1992 until 2005, when he retired due to ill health.<ref name="BCU">{{Cite news |title=RBC staff and alumni pay tribute to former Head of Composition Andrew Downes |url=https://www.bcu.ac.uk/conservatoire/about-us/news/rbc-staff-and-alumni-pay-tribute-to-former-head-of-composition-andrew-downes |access-date=7 January 2023 |publisher=Birmingham City University |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Leading pianist's recital |work=Newsquest Media Group Newspapers |date= 9 June 2005 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Tribute to composer |work=[[Birmingham Evening Mail]] |page=12 |date=14 June 2005}}</ref> He kept working as a freelance composer.<ref name="Composers Alliance" />

== Career ==
In addition to live performances, Downes' music has been broadcast on [[BBC Radio]]s 2, 3,<ref name="CzechMate">{{cite news |first=Christopher |last=Morley |title=Culture – Andrew on song with Czech mate |work=[[Birmingham Post]] |page=16 |date=28 February 2002}}</ref> and 4, [[BBC TV]], [[France Musique]], Italian TV, Austrian Radio, Dutch Radio,<ref name="CzechMate"/> Czech Radio, and Central Peking Radio. Seventeen CDs have been made of his music.

He composed ''The Marshes of Glynn'' for the Royal opening of the [[Adrian Boult Hall]] in Birmingham in 1986,<ref name="Composers Alliance" /><ref name="NewDawn">{{cite news |first=Terry |last=Grimley |title=Millennium is a new dawn for Birmingham composer |work=Birmingham Post |page=13 |date=17 February 2000 }}</ref> and his ''Centenary Fire Dances'' were first performed for the City of Birmingham's Centenary Festival of Fireworks and Music.<ref name="Composers Alliance" /><ref name="NewDawn"/> He wrote an ''Overture'' for the [[Three Choirs Festival]]. His vocal music includes songs for the [[Cantamus Girls Choir]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Such an evocative evening |work=Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph |date=25 May 1999 }}</ref> song cycles for [[Sarah Walker (opera singer)|Sarah Walker]] and the tenor John Mitchinson broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and anthems for the BBC 4 Daily Service.<ref name="Composers Alliance" />

He composed music for horns, including ''Sonata for Eight Horns'' for the Horn Octet of the [[University of New Mexico]] and ''Suite for Six Horns'' for the Vienna Horn Society. After a successful recording of ''Sonata for Eight Horns'' by hornists of the [[Czech Philharmonic Orchestra]], Downes was commissioned to write ''Concerto for four Horns and Orchestra'' for the orchestra,<ref name="Composers Alliance" /><ref name="CzechMate"/> played at the Dvorak Hall in Prague in February and March 2002.<ref name="Composers Alliance" /><ref name="CzechMate"/> In March 2003 the work was recorded for broadcast by [[Czech Radio]]. In 2005, Downes returned to Prague hear the Czech Philharmonic Horns play his ''Five Dramatic Pieces for Eight Wagner Tubas''.<ref name="Composers Alliance" />

Downes composed ''Song of the Eagle'' for the [[James Madison University]] Flute Choir of Virginia,<ref name="NewDawn"/> and ''Concerto for Two Pianos'' for the Duo Scaramouche, ''Sonata for Eight Pianists'' for soloists from France, Italy and Britain.<ref name="Composers Alliance" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Perfect eight |work=Birmingham Evening Mail |page=8 |date=2 December 2000}}</ref> He wrote ''Mela Kamavardhani'' for Indo-Jazz Fusions musicians in Calcutta, Delhi, and Bombay, and ''Fanfare for Madam Speaker'' for the installation of [[Betty Boothroyd]] MP as Chancellor of the [[Open University]] in 1994.<ref name="Composers Alliance" /> Instrumental music included ''Concerto for Two Guitars'' written for Simon Dinnigan and [[Fred Thelonious Baker|Fred T. Baker]] playing with strings from the [[City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra]],<ref name="Composers Alliance" /><ref name="NewDawn"/> the ''Concert Overture Towards a New Age'' commissioned for the 150th anniversary of the [[British Institution of Mechanical Engineers]],<ref name="Composers Alliance" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Overture to a Celebration |work=Professional Engineering |publisher=Institution of Mechanical Engineers |page=52 |date=26 February 1997}}</ref> which was premiered at the [[Symphony Hall, Birmingham|Symphony Hall]], Birmingham, by the [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]], and ''Suite for Brass Sextet'' written for the Czech Philharmonic Brass Sextet.<ref name="Composers Alliance" />

== Personal life ==
Downes married his wife, Cynthia, in 1976. She published his music under the company name Lynwood Music.<ref name="Official" /> They had two daughters, Anna and Paula; two grandsons, Oscar and Maxwell; and two granddaughters, Persephone and Emilia. Both of the Downes daughters became musicians: Anna is a violinist and Paula is a soprano as well as chief executive of Lynwood Music since 2013.

Andrew Downes died on 2 January 2023, at age 72.<ref name="BCU" /><ref name="Official">{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.andrewdownes.com/ |access-date=7 January 2023 |website=andrewdownes.com}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
A performance [[The Andrew Downes Performance Prize|prize]] in his name, and supported by his family, was begun by Birmingham Conservatoire during his lifetime.<ref name="BCU" />

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071201085925/http://www.artistnation.org/artist-689.php Andrew Downes] at artistnation.org
* {{Discogs artist}}
* [https://britishmusiccollection.org.uk/composer/andrew-downes Andrew Downes] at British Music Collection

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downes, Andrew}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century British male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century British classical composers]]
[[Category:20th-century English composers]]
[[Category:21st-century British male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century British classical composers]]
[[Category:English classical composers]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Music]]
[[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands]]
[[Category:English male classical composers]]
[[Category:People from Handsworth, West Midlands]]
[[Category:Academics of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire]]