Known for his radiant orchestrations, his dramatic structures and his innovative guitar work, Tim Brady is a composer and guitarist who has created music in a wide range of genres ranging from chamber and orchestral music to electroacoustic works, chamber opera, contemporary dance scores, jazz and free improvisation. He has been commissioned and performed by numerous ensembles and orchestras in North America and Europe including the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, New Music Concerts, Ina-GRM (Radio-France), the English Guitar Quartet, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Esprit Orchestra (CBC), the Philadelphia-based Relâche ensemble, the Australian group Topology, and the British string ensemble The Smith Quartet.
Since 1988 he has released 14 CDs as both a composer and a performer on Justin Time Records and, more recently, on Ambiances Magnétiques.
Brady regularly tours North America, Europe, Asia and Australia as an electric guitar soloist, performing his own music as well as new works which he commissions from other composers in his effort to create a new voice for the electric guitar. He has performed at many leading venues including The South Bank Centre and the ICA (London), The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK), The Darwin International Guitar Fewstival (Australia), the Bang on a Can Festival (NY), De Ijsbreker (Amsterdam), Radio-France (Paris), the Barcelona Contemporary Music Festival and BKA (Berlin). He has recorded extensively for Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Netherlands Public Radio, Radio-France, Spanish National Radio and National Public Radio in the USA.
His new music ensemble Bradyworks has toured Canada, performed in the United States of America, and records regularly for both the CBC and Radio-Canada. The ensemble released its first CD in 1991, entitled Inventions, and released its second recording, Revolutionary Songs, in 1996 to coincide with its performance at the Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville. In the autumn of 2003 the group released its third CD, entitled Unison Rituals, and presented its first European tour, including a radio performance for the BBC Radio 3 programme “Hear and Now”, along with concerts in Aberdeen, Dublin and Cork. The ensemble recently presented Brady’s two chamber operas in highly successful productions: Three Cities in the Life of Dr. Norman Bethune (Montréal, 2003 / Toronto, 2005), and The Salome Dancer (Kitchener, 2005). In May 2008 it presented 5 performances of the multi-media work My 20th Century in a tour across Québec, including a performance at the Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville.
In January 2004 he was awarded the Prix Opus for “Composer of the Year” by the Conseil québécois de la musique, for the outstanding quality of his work as a creative artist. From 2008 to 2010 he will be serving as the “composer in residence” with the Orchestre symphonique de Laval, working with music director Alain Trudel to build a creative music presence in the orchestra and in the city of Laval.
In addition to his work as a composer and guitarist, from 1994 to 2004 he served as the Artisitc Director of Innovations en concert, a company which he founded. It is one of Montréal’s main new music producers, and during his tenure as director he produced over 100 concerts of contemporary music from across Canada and around the world. He also writes frequently for Musicworks Magazine, and has served on the boards of Codes d’accès, The Canadian League of Composers and the Music Gallery.
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Tim Brady
Montréal (Québec), 1956
Residence: Montréal (Québec)
- Composer
- Performer (electric guitar)
- Improviser