About David
Develops and oversees postgraduate taught programmes.
Directs the RNCM’s Hub for Artistic Research in Performance (HARP)
Professor David Horne holds a Personal Chair in Composition and is Head of the Graduate School at the Royal Northern College of Music. He has been commissioned and performed by major organisations internationally, including Carnegie Hall, London Sinfonietta, Nash Ensemble, Ensemble Moderne, the BBC Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Scottish Chamber Orchestras. Recent performances have included by the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Opéra national de Lorraine and Ensemble 10:10.
Active as a pianist, and winner of the piano section, BBC Young Musician of the Year 1988, he has performed both his Piano Concerto and Flex with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto no 3 at the BBC Proms. Career highlights include a full evening concert of his works given by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Clark Rundell, and he has had portrait concerts as part of the BBC Proms and the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Music of Today series. His music is published by Boosey and Hawkes.
A respected teacher and mentor, David is in demand as an educator at all levels. He has mentored emerging composers on Making Music’s Adopt a Composer programme and frequently advises and mentors composers on Sound and Music projects. He has a keen interest in working with younger musicians and is a key tutor on the Sound and Music Summer School and leads education projects throughout the UK. He directs HARP, the RNCM’s Hub for Artistic Research into Performance and regularly presents on his research in the UK and abroad.
Research
Current and Future Research
Horne, D., Different Ghosts for Clarinet Quintet, (2022)
Commission funded by Ida Carroll Trust
World premiere at Aldeburgh Festival, 9 June, 2023
Linda Merrick and the Kreutzer Quartet
Commercial recording forthcoming.
Castle Rock for Mixed Septet (2023)
Commission funded by St Mary’s Music School, Edinburgh January 2023
World premiere of work in St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh 29 March, 2023
Online premiere on YouTube 15 June, 2023
Brontë Songs for mezzo soprano and ensemble (2023)
World premiere at Made in Manchester festival, 5 May, 2023
London premiere at Wigmore Hall, 17 June, 2023
The Turn of the Tide (2006)
Several recent European performances, including available online:
WDR Sinfonieorchester, Cologne
BRSO, Munich
https://www.brso.de/en/audio-video/concert-videos/marie-jacquot-gautier-capucon/
Lorraine National Opera Orchestra
https://www.opera-national-lorraine.fr/en/activity/33-cap-sur-l-ecosse-horne-beethoven-mendelssohn
Invited Keynote speaker at Perform_Live Festival, Dublin, March 2022
Currently working on a monograph, Music in Contradiction, co-authored with Dr Simon Clarke. Planned for publication in 2024.
External Research Roles
- Visiting Professor, Kunstuniversität Graz, University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (2016)
- Key Tutor, Sound and Music Summer School, Sound and Music Summer School (2009 – present)
- Visiting Professor, ESMUC, Barcelona, The Catalonia College of Music (2006 – 2007)
- Mentor to early-career composers, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (2004 – present)
- Composer in Residence, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (2000 – 2003)
- Visiting Lecturer in Music, Harvard University (1999 – 2000)
- Pianist, Boston Music Viva (1998 – 2000)
- Pianist, ALEA III (1996 – 2000)
Funded Research Projects
Vaughan Williams Foundation
The Hinrichsen Foundation
Teaching
Undergraduate Teaching
Principal study composition tutor
Co-ordinator and tutor: Performing Contemporary Music (BMus3), Performance Studies (BMus4)
Lecturer: Research Electives:
- Anatomy of the Symphony: from Berlioz to Shostakovich
- 20th Century Chamber Music
- The Modern Concerto
- 20th Century Analysis
- Five Great 20th Century Operas
- The String Quartet from 1900
- Puccini Operas
- Wagner- Der Ring des Nibelungen
- Composition and Performance
Lecturer: Music, Culture and Performance I (19th and 20th centuries)
Postgraduate Teaching
Principal study composition tutor
PG Composition Seminar
Co-ordinator and lecturer:
- Arrangement Elective
- Composition Elective
- Research Lecture Recital
- Research Methods: Artistic Research
- Underrepresented Music and Musicians
- Dissertation supervision
Research Supervision
Current supervision of PhDs:
- Devon Bonelli
- James Waide
- Peggy Nolan
- Christian Jones
- Nicholas Waldock
- Wenxin Luo
- Maggie Zhao
- Beibei Wang
Completed PhDs:
- Zakiya Leeming, Conception to Construction: Compositional decision-making informed by theories, patterns and processes in the physical, life, and computer sciences.
Research Outputs
Written Outputs
Music in Contradiction: A Study of Logic and Musical Meaning
Clarke, S. & Horne, D., 2027, (In preparation) Abingdon: Routledge. (Routledge Research in Music)Composition as Improvisation/Improvisation as Composition
Horne, D., 2017, Experimental Encounters in Music and Beyond. Leuven University Press, p. 177–186Practice Research/Compositions
Brontë Songs: for Mezzo Soprano and Ensemble
Horne, D. (Composer), 2023Castle Rock
Horne, D. (Composer), 2023Rosamund Brass RNCM Spotlight
Baczkowski, D. (Composer), Gorb, A. (Composer) & Horne, D. (Composer), 3 Nov 2023Different Ghosts: for clarinet quintet
Horne, D. (Composer), 2022Reflecting Instruments
Horne, D. (Composer), 2019Resonating Instruments
Horne, D. (Composer), 2016Frayed Instruments
Horne, D. (Composer), 2015Grimm Tales
Horne, D. (Composer), 2015Professional Activity
Public Presentations and Performance
Solo piano set as part of Hive Ensemble Event
Horne, D. (Speaker / presenter)
PhD Supervision and Examination
Supervised Devon Bonelli, ‘Fag on the Dance Floor: De/Reterritorializing through Composing Queer, Theatrical, and Narrative Music’ [composition, completed March 2025]
Horne, D. (Examiner), Clarke, S. (Examiner) & Salem, S. (Examiner)
Visiting Positions
Royal College of Music
Horne, D. (Visiting researcher)
Other
BCMG Creative Composing Lab
Horne, D. (Participant)
BCMG Creative Composing Lab
Horne, D. (Participant)
in the Making
Horne, D. (Participant)
BCMG Creative Composing Lab
Horne, D. (Participant)
International Assessor- Research Ireland
Horne, D. (Participant)
In the Making
Horne, D. (Participant)
Composition workshop leader- BCMG
Horne, D. (Participant)