Derek Bourgeois

Who is Derek Bourgeois?

Derek David Bourgeois is an English composer.

After receiving his education from Magdalene College, Cambridge University, Bourgeois spent two years at the Royal College of Music studying composition with Herbert Howells and conducting with Sir Adrian Boult.

From 1971 to 1984, Bourgeois was a lecturer in music at Bristol University, and director of the National Youth Orchestra from 1984 to 1993. In 1980 he began conducting at the Sun Life Band where he was introduced to brass bands. In 1994 Bourgeois was appointed Director of Music at St Paul's Girls School, London. After retiring from this post in 2002 he settled in Majorca where he lived along with his wife. After the death of his wife in 2006 he moved to New York in 2008 but eventually returned to United Kingdom in 2009. He has also conducted for various orchestras. His symphonies include Jabbervocky-Extravaganza and the symphonic fantasy The Astronauts. For his Symphony of Winds, the First International Conference for Conductors, Publishers and Composers awarded him with their main commission in 1981. He has also chaired Composer's Guild of Great Britain and served as the artistic director of Bristol Philharmonic Orchestra.