Biography
Christopher Irvin (b. 1953) was brought up in Leamington Spa, moved to London as a student and has lived in West Yorkshire since 1980. A professional actor-musician, he trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in the early 1970s and has enjoyed a career spanning more than fifty years in theatre, television and film. From 1987 to 2005 he ran Bridge Theatre, a touring company based in Hebden Bridge. He holds a BA (Hons) degree from the Open University.
Music has always been central to Christopher’s work. He was a lecturer in Musical Theatre at Huddersfield Technical College from 2000 to 2006, and plays piano, oboe and descant recorder, as well as singing tenor and teaching singing. He has conducted and played oboe with numerous amateur orchestras across the region and has appeared as a concerto soloist with ensembles including Northern Baroque and Todmorden Summer Orchestra.
Christopher founded the Chris Irvin Concert Orchestra, specialising in light classical repertoire, and has presented concerts in theatres and annually at RHS Gardens Harlow Carr. His first orchestral composition, Eine Kleine Schulmusik, was written at the age of sixteen and performed by the school orchestra at Leamington College for Boys. His later compositions have retained a strong theatrical influence, embracing the lyricism, wit and sense of occasion that lie at the heart of his musical personality. He has written overtures, dance music, songs and incidental music for the theatre as well as music for Christmas productions and settings of Shakespeare. His music aims to be accessible and memorable and has been performed by orchestras throughout the region.
His compositions have also been recorded commercially, including Midsummer Moods (2014), recorded by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, and Joie de Vivre (2015), recorded by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra; and further recordings are planned. His music has been broadcast by Classic FM, RTÉ Lyric FM and Serenade Radio.
For Christopher, however, music ultimately belongs in performance. There is a particular pleasure in hearing a work leave the composer’s imagination and become a living experience shared with an audience. He is especially grateful to Gorton Philharmonic for giving him the opportunity to hear his music in live performance, and he hopes that you will enjoy the music as much as he has enjoyed bringing it to life.