Alison Kay first studied composition with Tom Wilson and James Macmillan at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, continuing with Simon Bainbridge and Edwin Roxburgh at the Royal College of Music, where she won many of the major composition prizes. She completed a Masters degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Robert Saxton and is currently working on a doctorate at Sussex University under the supervision of Martin Butler.
Kay’s music has been performed by the BBC Singers (Ocean), the Philharmonia Orchestra (Communication?), the Composers Ensemble (Threads – commissioned with funds from the Jo Johnson Memorial Award) and her piano trio Pulse Echo was premiered in the Music past and Present series in London. Rat-race was commissioned by the Brighton Festival 2000 and has subsequently been played at Hoxton New Music Days, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and recorded by the Composers Ensemble for NMC.
Recent works have included Shadow Dancing, commissioned by percussionist Richard Benjafield for performances at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge and Dartington International Summer School, a piano etude, Godafoss, written for Stephen Gutman and performed in Bulgaria, Stone Silence, for Mary Wiegold and the Composers Ensemble and performed by them in the BMIC ‘Cutting Edge’ series, and an orchestral work, Rainbow Serpent, for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, performed at the 2002 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.
Future projects include a work for cello and orchestra and a ballet.