Kerensa Briggs Explained

Kerensa Rosie Joanne Briggs (born 1991) is a British composer, primarily of choral and organ music. In 2022 she was appointed composer-in-residence with the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus in Missouri, USA, for a two-year term.[1] [2]

Family and education

Briggs was born in Truro, Cornwall, in 1991,[3] while her father, David,[4] was organist and master of the choristers at Truro Cathedral.[5]

After her father moved to Gloucester Cathedral, she sang in the youth choir there. She attended The King's School in Gloucester from 1995 to 2002[6] and later studied music at the University of Bristol.[7] Afterwards she sang with the Choir of King's College London, where she held a choral scholarship and was awarded a Master of Music degree in composition.

Career

Briggs plays the piano and harp and began composing as a child.[7] In 2014 she was the joint winner of the National Centre for Early Music Young Composers Award, for her composition Lamentations of Jeremiah.[7] [8]

She worked for a housing association in Horsham, West Sussex, before becoming composer-in-residence at Godolphin and Latymer School.[7] In 2022 she began a two-year term as composer-in-residence with the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus in the USA.[9]

Her music, which is inspired by the Anglican choral tradition, Gregorian chant, early music and jazz,[7] [10] has been performed at St Paul's Cathedral and the Sistine Chapel and has been broadcast on BBC Radio and Classic FM by ensembles such as the Tallis Scholars and the BBC Singers, and also by the choir of Pembroke College, Cambridge, under the direction of Anna Lapwood.[11] Briggs has been described as writing in a "generally tonal and audience-friendly idiom, not to mention a singer/performer-friendly idiom".[4] Her choral works have been described by The New York Times as "poignant, ambivalent, quietly devastating music" and by BBC Music Magazine as "alluring and heartfelt",[10] [12] and have been performed at the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music each year since 2018.[13]

Briggs's Requiem was performed by the BBC Singers under the direction of David Hill, with Stephen Farr at the organ, during the BBC Radio 3 Afternoon Concert series in November 2023 to mark Remembrance Day,[14] and the world premiere of her setting of the O antiphon O Clavis David was sung by the choir of Norwich Cathedral during the BBC Radio 3 broadcast of Choral Evensong the following month.[15] [16]

Selected works

Briggs's works include the following:[17]

Other works

Discography

Notes and References

  1. https://www.chamberchorus.org/composers-in-residence Composers-in-Residence
  2. https://www.kerensabriggs.co.uk/ Kerensa Briggs website
  3. General Register Office, England and Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916−2007, vol. 21, p. 342.
  4. https://kdhx.org/articles/classical/3022-review-choral-variations-on-a-theme,-capped-by-a-world-premiere KHDX, "Review: Choral variations on a theme, capped by a world premiere"
  5. https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/11839896.top-organist-returns-to-truro-cathedral/ The Falmouth Packet, "Top organist returns to Truro Cathedral"
  6. https://www.thekingsschool.co.uk/club-1541/notable-alumni Notable alumni - Kerensa Briggs (1995−2002)
  7. https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/horsham-composer-overjoyed-at-national-recognition-2253317 "Horsham composer 'overjoyed' at national recognition"
  8. https://www.youngcomposersaward.co.uk/previous-winners The National Centre for Early Music, Young Composers Award: Previous winners
  9. https://www.godolphinandlatymer.com/godolphin-choirs-sing-choral-evensong-at-st-albans-cathedral/ "Godolphin choirs sing Choral Evensong at St Albans Cathedral"
  10. BBC Music Magazine, "Choral and Song: Kerensa Briggs", 11 July 2023. Accessed 14 March 2024.
  11. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/sep/11/anna-lapwood-images-review-ely-jeremy-denk-mozart-piano-concertos-saint-paul-chamber-orchestra-edinburgh-festival-radio-3-in-concert "Classical home listening: Anna Lapwood, Jeremy Denk and the best of Edinburgh"
  12. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/arts/music/five-minutes-classical-music-choral.html "5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Choral Music"
  13. https://www.lfccm.com/whatson/participants/kerensa-briggs/ "Festival performances of works by Kerensa Briggs"
  14. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001rz41 BBC Radio 3, Afternoon Concert: Kerensa Briggs's Requiem, 10 November 2023
  15. https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2023/1-december/news/uk/bbc-sets-out-its-christmas-feast The Church Times, "BBC sets out its Christmas feast"
  16. https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/christmas-religious-programming-bbc-2023 BBC, "Christmas 2023 Religious Programming on the BBC"
  17. https://www.kerensabriggs.co.uk/music-1 Music
  18. https://www.delphianrecords.com/products/kerensa-briggs-requiem Catalogue No. DCD34298: Kerensa Briggs, Requiem