Jennifer Walshe

Composer Jennifer Walshe was born in Dublin.. After studying composition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama she graduated from the Northwestern University, Chicago, with a doctoral degree in composition. Walshe’s work has received critical acclaim and multiple awards, and she currently lives in London and is Reader in Music at Brunel University.

Walshe’s compositions are often commissioned for her voice either as a soloist or in conjunction with other instruments and her work has been performed and broadcast all over the world by ensembles such as Alter Ego, ensemble recherché and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.

In addition to composing, Walshe frequently performs as a vocalist, specialising in extended techniques and she is as an improviser, performing regularly with musicians.

Walshe’s work often blurs the idea of genre, and she frequently explores compositions where the physical, theatrical and visual aspects are as important as the sonic.

Since 2007 Walshe has developed Grúpat, a project in which Walshe assumed the persona of all twelve members of the collective, under different alter egos – and creates compositions, installations, graphic scores, films, photography, sculptures and fashion.

Walshe’s project, Historical Documents of the Irish Avant-Garde, involved the creation of a fictional history of the musical avant-garde in Ireland, in which Walshe engaged a huge team of collaborators and created compositions, recordings, scores and articles, which became a book of the project.