Stuart MacRae
@stuartmacrae.bsky.social
Composer. Operas (Anthropocene/The Devil Inside)
orchestral | chamber | vocal
http://linktr.ee/stuartmacrae
Support and more via Music Patron: https://musicpatron.com/r/c/85
orchestral | chamber | vocal
http://linktr.ee/stuartmacrae
Support and more via Music Patron: https://musicpatron.com/r/c/85
Reposted by Stuart MacRae
Naomi Klein Is Spot On.......
October 2, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Naomi Klein Is Spot On.......
Only a few weeks until Beth Taylor and Hamish Brown premiere the result of the @royalphilsoc.bsky.social Thea Musgrave grant, "MEDUSA" at Edinburgh International Festival, Queen's Hall, 11th August. With a beautiful specially commissioned text by @jlwpoetry.bsky.social
We are delighted to announce almost £50,000 of grants awarded through the RPS Thea Musgrave Fund, supporting composers and performers dedicated to contemporary music. You can find out more about this year's grants recipients here: royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/rps_today/ne... (1/4)
July 18, 2026 at 9:37 PM
Only a few weeks until Beth Taylor and Hamish Brown premiere the result of the @royalphilsoc.bsky.social Thea Musgrave grant, "MEDUSA" at Edinburgh International Festival, Queen's Hall, 11th August. With a beautiful specially commissioned text by @jlwpoetry.bsky.social
I just noticed that I have quite a lot more followers here than I thought! Hello! I should probably post more here! So here's an aerial view of the small wildflower patch I planted in the garden this year.
June 25, 2026 at 8:37 PM
I just noticed that I have quite a lot more followers here than I thought! Hello! I should probably post more here! So here's an aerial view of the small wildflower patch I planted in the garden this year.
Reposted by Stuart MacRae
Applications for RPS Thea Musgrave Composition Grants are open until 7 July. We offer funding for established composers writing a new work for soloist, duo or chamber ensemble, including to devote to focused workshop and rehearsal time with performers.
royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/composers/rp...
royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/composers/rp...
April 30, 2026 at 8:36 AM
Applications for RPS Thea Musgrave Composition Grants are open until 7 July. We offer funding for established composers writing a new work for soloist, duo or chamber ensemble, including to devote to focused workshop and rehearsal time with performers.
royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/composers/rp...
royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/composers/rp...
Am I overusing the string-crossing texture?
Yes
Do I care?
No
Yes
Do I care?
No
April 2, 2026 at 8:02 PM
Am I overusing the string-crossing texture?
Yes
Do I care?
No
Yes
Do I care?
No
Sums it up - it was great.
★★★★★ SIEGFRIED @theroyalopera.bsky.social - No bully, but a bright boy who learns fast: #AndreasSchager’s hero is a sword-forger and lover for the ages - @davidnice.bsky.social is deeply impressed by this third instalment of #BarrieKosky's challenging new #Ring www.theartsdesk.com/opera/siegfr...
April 1, 2026 at 11:52 PM
Sums it up - it was great.
I wish HMRC would stop asking me every day if I'm ready for Making Tax Digital. I'm not, and I don't have to be because classical composers don't earn that much. Maybe next year when the threshold comes down. Then again, maybe not.
April 1, 2026 at 2:16 PM
I wish HMRC would stop asking me every day if I'm ready for Making Tax Digital. I'm not, and I don't have to be because classical composers don't earn that much. Maybe next year when the threshold comes down. Then again, maybe not.
Looking forward to RBO Siegfried in the cinema tomorrow evening. Hope there's not too much popcorn munching!
March 30, 2026 at 8:11 PM
Looking forward to RBO Siegfried in the cinema tomorrow evening. Hope there's not too much popcorn munching!
Reposted by Stuart MacRae
'@stuartmacrae.bsky.social's song cycle 'Medusa', written for mezzo soprano Beth Taylor and supported by the RPS Thea Musgrave Fund, will be performed for the first time at The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh as part of @edintfest.bsky.social on 11 August: royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/whats_on/stu...
March 26, 2026 at 12:13 PM
'@stuartmacrae.bsky.social's song cycle 'Medusa', written for mezzo soprano Beth Taylor and supported by the RPS Thea Musgrave Fund, will be performed for the first time at The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh as part of @edintfest.bsky.social on 11 August: royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/whats_on/stu...
Reposted by Stuart MacRae
A decade since I saw it. Well overdue a revival. www.theartsdesk.com/opera/devil-...
February 13, 2026 at 11:07 AM
A decade since I saw it. Well overdue a revival. www.theartsdesk.com/opera/devil-...
Still probably my favourite of my operas.
Stevenson’s “The Bottle Imp” has inspired a number of interesting spinoffs, from the 2016 opera THE DEVIL INSIDE, by @stuartmacrae.bsky.social & @louisewelsh00.bsky.social …
3/10
www.theguardian.com/music/2016/j...
3/10
www.theguardian.com/music/2016/j...
'We talked diseases for days': the making of a modern opera
Robert Louis Stevenson’s sinister story is the starting point for Louise Welsh and Stuart MacRae’s story of desire, devilry and detuned sounds, The Devil Inside
www.theguardian.com
February 8, 2026 at 11:05 PM
Still probably my favourite of my operas.
Without wanting to come over all 70s-sitcom-grumpy-husband, why does caramel always have to be so bloody salty these days? Wasn't it better when it was sweet?
January 20, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Without wanting to come over all 70s-sitcom-grumpy-husband, why does caramel always have to be so bloody salty these days? Wasn't it better when it was sweet?
You know something I really, really hate? Email apps trying to write replies for me, and 'autocorrecting' as I type (it's usually wrong).
January 15, 2026 at 10:14 AM
You know something I really, really hate? Email apps trying to write replies for me, and 'autocorrecting' as I type (it's usually wrong).
No better feeling than when you think you have to go out to a party then discover it's not for another week.
December 11, 2025 at 8:00 PM
No better feeling than when you think you have to go out to a party then discover it's not for another week.
Pavarotti is on the TV and I just had a pang of concern that the young people might not have heard of Pavarotti. They should be told.
December 8, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Pavarotti is on the TV and I just had a pang of concern that the young people might not have heard of Pavarotti. They should be told.
Very excited indeed to be working with mezzo Beth Taylor on a new piece next year!
Receiving RPS Thea Musgrave Composition Grants for composer-performer partnership are: David Gorton and Carla Rees, Emma-Ruth Richards and Jennifer France, Robert Laidlow and Peter Brathwaite, Samantha Fernando and Fretwork, @stuartmacrae.bsky.social and Beth Taylor. (2/4)
October 30, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Very excited indeed to be working with mezzo Beth Taylor on a new piece next year!
Reposted by Stuart MacRae
Thank you @francisrouthtrust.bsky.social for supporting our new project on John Rae, which will include new works by @stuartmacrae.bsky.social and Ailie Robertson, as well as 2 Nordic composers. Morenews coming very soon!
Well done @nordicviola.bsky.social @papagena.bsky.social @electricvoice.bsky.social @kingsplacelondon.bsky.social @cssdlondon.bsky.social amongst others. Details of our latest grant awards are now available at francisrouthtrust.org/grants-awarded/. We have now supported 146 British composers.
Grants Awarded - Francis Routh Trust
In less than three years since it was established in March 2023, the Trust has supported 66 projects and awarded more than £50,000 in grants, supporting in total 192 works by 146 British composers. De...
francisrouthtrust.org
October 23, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Thank you @francisrouthtrust.bsky.social for supporting our new project on John Rae, which will include new works by @stuartmacrae.bsky.social and Ailie Robertson, as well as 2 Nordic composers. Morenews coming very soon!
I love Max's music but R3 are playing this piece waaaay too much recently.
BBC Radio 3
In Tune
Now Playing
Peter Maxwell Davies & Peter Maxwell Davies
Farewell to Stromness (The Yellow Cake Revue)
In Tune
Now Playing
Peter Maxwell Davies & Peter Maxwell Davies
Farewell to Stromness (The Yellow Cake Revue)
September 26, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I love Max's music but R3 are playing this piece waaaay too much recently.
If you're not smiling/crying/both by the end of this I don't know what to tell you (and if you haven't seen or heard this before - you're welcome!) youtu.be/Ypd1YGW5Huw?...
Oscar Peterson - Sweet Georgia Brown
YouTube video by Lucas Dann
youtu.be
September 19, 2025 at 5:30 PM
If you're not smiling/crying/both by the end of this I don't know what to tell you (and if you haven't seen or heard this before - you're welcome!) youtu.be/Ypd1YGW5Huw?...
The more I hear from Peter Kyle, the less I want to. First in the pockets of the AI industry (and hang the arts and creative industries), now undermining the value of higher education with materialistic bromides about entrepreneurship and business.
September 19, 2025 at 12:00 PM
The more I hear from Peter Kyle, the less I want to. First in the pockets of the AI industry (and hang the arts and creative industries), now undermining the value of higher education with materialistic bromides about entrepreneurship and business.
I'm finding it really baffling that so much of the news is about the death of someone in the US I had literally never heard of until today. The more I hear about him, the less I want to.
September 11, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I'm finding it really baffling that so much of the news is about the death of someone in the US I had literally never heard of until today. The more I hear about him, the less I want to.
Berg's harmony (and particularly in Lulu) makes me scrunch up my face in a way no other music can - the precise and logical beauty of his unresolving voice-leading, his exquisite voicing and the drama of his timing are almost too much to bear - in the best possible way.
September 8, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Berg's harmony (and particularly in Lulu) makes me scrunch up my face in a way no other music can - the precise and logical beauty of his unresolving voice-leading, his exquisite voicing and the drama of his timing are almost too much to bear - in the best possible way.
Reposted by Stuart MacRae
I’m extremely medieval peasant brained about AI. Do not interact with the demon box.
June 14, 2025 at 7:30 PM
I’m extremely medieval peasant brained about AI. Do not interact with the demon box.
Previously, when I said 'hey google' then 'navigate home', my phone would instantly bring up the best route and start it. Now an AI assistant tells me it has found a route & asks if I want to ask anything else, before opening maps, adding 15 secs to the process. Is this meant to be an improvement?
May 24, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Previously, when I said 'hey google' then 'navigate home', my phone would instantly bring up the best route and start it. Now an AI assistant tells me it has found a route & asks if I want to ask anything else, before opening maps, adding 15 secs to the process. Is this meant to be an improvement?
Composing is so much easier and more satisfying than 'being a composer' 🤔
May 21, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Composing is so much easier and more satisfying than 'being a composer' 🤔