Alwynne Pritchard was born in Glasgow in 1968. Encouraged by her father, the composer Gwyn Pritchard, she began composing as a teenager and went on to study composition with Robert Saxton at the Guildhall School of Music, and later with Justin Connolly and Michael Finnissy at the Royal Academy of Music where she was awarded many prizes for her work. She has since been distinguished by critics for her strong, spare language and restrained eloquence. Over the past ten years, Alwynne’s music has been performed by leading British players and ensembles including the Arditti String Quartet, Apartment House, the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Gemini, Ixion, John Kenny, London Sinfonietta, Lontano, Darragh Morgan, Ian Pace, Reservoir, the Schubert and Uroboros Ensembles. As well as being regularly heard in London and around the country, Alwynne’s music has also received performances in Ireland, America, Europe and Scandanavia, and has often been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and 4, as well as abroad. In the summer of 2000, Alwynne was awarded a Visions of Norway scholarship for a two-month artist’s residency at the Kulturhuset, Bergen. She has since been offered another, extended residency and will be in Bergen again from June to September 2003.
Web: http://www.bmic.co.uk/newvoices/pritchrd.htm