“I aspire to write compositions that have the sensibility of classical music and the rhythmic excitement of popular music.”
Chris Corcoran is a German-Irish composer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. His music has been performed in Italy, Germany, Ireland and the UK. Throughout 2015 he was Composer in Residence with London’s contemporary music/jazz club Club Inégales and the think-tank The Institute of Composing through the Sound and Music Embedded scheme.
Chris’s compositions are inspired by jazz and popular music as well as classical and contemporary art music. By drawing on sounds used in jazz, blues, or rock, and fusing them with classical composition techniques in a contemporary music setting, he has developed a highly personal musical voice. He also writes music for film and theatre, and is a passionate classical and electric guitar player.
Born and raised in Hamburg, Germany, Chris studied composition with Martin O’Leary at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, where he was awarded an entry scholarship and won the class prize for the highest final exam results. He went on to study instrumental composition with Rob Keeley during a Masters at King’s College London, as well as digital and studio composition with Newton Armstrong and Miguel Mera during a second Masters at City University London. He recently graduated with a PhD in Composition and Music Psychology from the University of Cambridge, studying under the supervision of composer Richard Causton and researchers Dr Neta Spiro and Prof Nicholas Cook.
Chris previously worked in the music industry as PA to composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, as well as for publishers Schott Music, Oxford University Press, and as Editor at Edition Wilhelm Hansen / Wise Music.
His father is the Irish composer Frank Corcoran.
Chris Corcoran 