About

Ian McQueen was born in 1954 into a Scottish family and brought up near Glasgow. After studies at the Royal College of Music and Dartington Summer School with John Lambert and Peter Maxwell Davies. He was the 1976 Mendelssohn Scholar, with Per Nørgård in Denmark. He made his debut at the Edinburgh Festival (Scottish Dances).

Ian’s early career involved residencies at Glasgow’s Third Eye Centre (Breakwell’s Circus – electronic music) and North West Arts in Wigan, which allowed him to create his first children’s Opera (Beggarman-Thief!)

More chamber, grand (and children’s!) operas have followed, initially with two commissions from Sweden – Judith and Fortunato. These are now available with libretti in English translation.

Recently, more choral pieces have appeared, such as An English Requiem for choir and organ and Earthly Paradise for chorus and symphony orchestra.

Ian has also continued to work in education and the community with London’s Spitalfields Festival and in schools in Camden and Tower Hamlets. He also was a founder Board member ofThe British Academy of Composers and Songwriters (now Ivors Academy) and of The British Composers Awards in 2003.

Ian is now based in Suffolk and has recently completed a trumpet concerto (presence…COOL…transcend) for St Andrews University, and a song cycle setting Paul Driver’s English translations of poems by Verlaine for high voice and piano (Verlaine’s Gallantry).