ROGER DOYLE, composer of the music for Budawanny and Steven Berkoff's Salome, has won the Bourges International ElectroAcoustic Music Competition, probably the most prestigious forum for modern classical music, writes Lueile Redmond.
The prize, one of four awarded, was given to Mr Doyle for his work Spirit Levels 14. The winning work will be broadcast by 32 radio stations around the world. The prize also includes 10,000 francs, and the competition body, Groupe Experimentale Musique de Bourges, issues a CD of the winning works.
The Bourges competition this year attracted 550 entries from all over the world. This is the first time an Irish composer has won.
"Spirit Levels 1-4 is set in impossible dream places in an imaginary building inhabited by ghosts, echoes and memories of people's lives," Mr Doyle said.
Mr Doyle, an Aosdana member, is known for his records Thalia, Oizzo No, Spring is Coming with a Strawberry in the Mouth (produced by Bono of U2) and Rapid Eye Movements, and his work with Olwen Fouere and Sebastian Barry in the theatrical group Operating Theatre. He is currently working on a long composition set in the Tower of Babel: Babel Volume II is coming out on the World Serpent label later this month.